This past summer, I took on the project of making over our back porch, while my husband painted the clapboard. One part of this DIY project was stripping the paint off our porch. Today, I want to give you a step by step on how to strip paint off a porch…in case you have a porch that needs a makeover.
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Let’s take a look at what the porch looked like before:
Pretty icky, huh…
Supplies Needed to Strip Paint off a Porch: (Click on highlighted words for more information.)
- Behr Woodstain & Finish Stripper:
- 3-4″ paint brush
- Razor blade scraper
- Paint scraper
- Large garbage bags
- Water source
- Rubber gloves
- 2″ paint brush
- Wood stain
- Behr Deck and Porch Waterproof
Now that we have our supplies on hand, let’s work through all the steps:
1. Using your water source, drench 2-3 boards.
2. Using your 3-4″ brush, slop on a thin coat of the Woodstain and Finish Stripper
3. Lay garbage bags directly on top of the 2-3 wet boards.
4. Find something else to do. And come back every 10-15 minutes to peek under the bags. Re-wet the boards if they’ve dried some. Lay the bag back on top of the boards.
5. When the paint looks loose or is bubbling, you are ready to start scraping. Pull back only a few inches of the bag at a time. Scrape the boards that are exposed.
6. Use both the razor blade and paint scraper. Sometimes it is easier to use one over the other.
7. Remove loose paint.
8. Recruit a helper…
9. When all the paint is stripped and cleaned up, thoroughly spray the boards clean with water. Allow the boards to dry for at least a few days.
10. Using the 2″ brush, apply 1-2 coats of wood stain. Follow the directions for drying and re-coating time. (I only used one coat of the Varathane Wood Stain in Golden Oak.)
The left side is stained and the right is unstained.
11. Apply 2 coats of Behr Waterproof using a 2″ brush. Allow it to dry according to directions. We avoided using this back porch for 48 hours. And then only with light use for another 48 hours.
Tips for how to remove paint off a porch:
- Apply more water than you would think.
- Less is more when it comes to the stripper.
- The stripper is activated by the water, so the boards you are working on must be wet (not just damp) at all times.
- The garbage bags hold the water on the boards. This is especially important when working in the sun or in hot/humid weather.
- Wear gloves. {Trust me on this.} Your fingerprints will thank you later.
- While you are scraping boards, wet and apply stripper to another set of boards. These will be ready to scrape when you are done with the current boards.
- You might not get all the paint off. This one was tough for me to accept. Maybe it was just my porch, but there are tiny specks of blue paint still here and there on our back porch. I got to the point where it just wasn’t worth my time to be so meticulous. I also didn’t want to damage the boards by gouging them to remove the paint that had been so worn down into the grain.
- The paint will settle deeper into the grains of the boards. These areas will give you more trouble…just do the best that you can.
- Use a watering can to re-wet the areas if a hose produces too much water.
- This project will take you days. Be prepared to clean it up with water at the end of each day of work.
- Throw away all brushes, gloves, and bags at the completion of this project. Everything else can be washed in water.
I’ll be honest: this project was tough. I spent hours in some extremely hot and humid weather bent over our back porch. What kept me going? Knowing that the final outcome would be worth it.
What do you think? Was it worth the 17,421 hours I spent out here? If yes…let me know. If no…well, don’t tell me because it’s too late now. 😉
xo,
Leigh
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