What is the best way to remove old flaking paint from an old house?

Yes, it is probably lead paint as the house is 1920. It is pealing but almost impossible to remove what is stuck. On my own home, I used a heat gun, is their a better and faster way?

I should mention that this is old wood lap siding with around a 4 1/4 reveal.

Never dry scrape lead paint!! You will contaminate your property and your neighbors. Also, this is the type of project that the federal RRP investigators look for. They can only snag a small percentage of jobs, so they go for the low hanging fruit like this.

Thank you Ken for the reply.

I really don't like the cheep looks of vinyl siding but I probably should have went that route.

6x6, first buy a test kit and test for lead.

If no lead, then power wash. There are different color tips, so pick the 2nd from highest pressure, and don't spray directly at the wood...spray at an angle and stay about 12" away. If you're not experienced with a pressure washer, then practice on an unpainted piece of 1x4 and you'll see how you can damage the wood if you use the wrong setting/process.

If it's lead paint, you'll need a different approach that's more intensive...or install vinyl over it.

Thank you Hoosier.

I do have some experience with a pressure washer, just not trying to remove paint off of wood siding. I thought that it might damage the wood and blast paint everywhere for that reason. They definitely will leave you messy.

Hardi is made of glass fibers and concrete not the wood fiber board of old. It's the modern version of asbestos siding, I have never heard anyone say anything negative about it deteriorating nor have I seen it. As far as breaking, I had some problems using an air nailer on install, occasionally shooting the nail through the siding but it is easy to fix those small holes with latex caulk before painting. I've used it on several houses and have never had it break once installed. I hate vinyl, it gets brittle after a few years and a kid bouncing a ball off of it or strong winds will absolutely destroy it. Carpenters don't like hardi because it is not as easy to cut as wood fiber siding and is really hard on blades.

If you don't have sheathing under that may be a problem. Any lap siding is supposed to have a water barrier under it and then a water deflector at the joints (just a piece of tar paper over the previous course and a few inches either side of the joint to direct the water over the lower course). Without sheathing there is nothing to hold it and you will have nothing to nail the corner and window trim boards to. I would strip it, put up a waterproof sheathing (zip) and seal the joints with the tape, and then finish with hardi lap siding.

Hardi board is great material, just make sure you read the install instructions carefully as far as sealing between gaps...each manufacturer has different instructions and some are pretty picky about putting a backing at each seam...but perhaps a Tyvek on the entire house would suffice.

I would be inclined to remove the existing siding & redo using Hardi or CertainTeed cement board siding. Since you don't have any sheathing under the studs, you most likely will need to install a layer or 3/8" or even better 1/2" sheathing to the framing before you install the new siding. Make sure that you install a layer of Typar or even 15# or 30# tar paper under the siding. If you follow the installation directions especially the distant to hold off from horizontal surfaces, painting the raw edges & using splines behind the joints, it will last for years. If you're careful during the removal process, you might even be able to salvage enough of the old siding to do the front side of the house.

Thumbs up for Steve's post.

Especially as this is a nice large yard, where you could stay for years. ( or is this one of the houses in town? )

There are paints that are meant to bind loose paint. I picked up a gallon at ReStore, don't remember how much, but its expensive. So far, so good. Its not going to be a perfect looking paint job, as the different layers can still be noticed, but it is thick, smooths some imperfections.

Thank you everyone for the replies.

Busy, this is the home in the area that I love. Thank you for the paint tip.

Hoosier, you brought up a point that I was thinking about. This is a 1920 home and there is no sheathing behind the siding, but I have not torn off any boards yet to see if there is any moisture barrier. If there is a tar paper type barrier, should I go back with that, or would Tyvek be a good option at that point?

I thought Tyvek was supposed to breath?

If there is no barrier, Should I leave it that way, as the house has been that way for over 100 years and the only reason that the boards are bad is because of lack of maintenance?

Steve, thank you for that information. Why do they require a certain distance to hold off from horizontal surfaces? Will it decay otherwise?

As far as wood siding goes, I am thinking that it would be best if I left a distance off from where it meets the roof from an addition and not caulk it as there is step flashing behind it and I am thinking that if I caulk it there at that roof edge then that would hold water on it, or am I wrong and I should caulk it there?

MikeA, My understanding is that they make a special nail for it that is in coils used in a gun that is made to shoot the hardi coiled nails? I asked someone if I could use a coil nailer for roofing with the Hardi nails and they said no.

Thank you again everyone for the replies, tips, requirements and suggestions. Continue the feedback, I appreciate it.

I have decided to go with replacing the bad wood siding with cedar wood lap siding. I can get the poplar wood siding that is milled just for these old historic homes locally in my area, but I think that cedar is a better choice of wood. The cedar is actually cheaper as well, but the reveal is larger. I am considering replacing some whole walls with the larger reveal (in order to keep the trim correct), and then use the good salvageable wood from those walls to repair the others. Any thoughts on that?

In case you are wondering, 3000LF of 8" cedar lap siding, 4) 5lb boxes of nails, and 9) 18ft sticks of PVC trim is over $8100. OUCH!

Tyvek does breathe but not nearly as much as other types of wrapping. I would probably go back with tarpaper if it has that. If it has nothing I would probably go ahead and install tarpaper. It’s easy to do with a stapler. I would be worried if you went with Tyvek that you would make the house too tight. Tyvek has some very specific rules about how you install it and how do you seal all the gaps around windows and so forth. They even have a special tape you’re supposed to use when you rip it accidentally.

If you really want to remove the paint, check out the "Silent Paint Remover".

It's a breadbox sized device that heats the paint with infrared. It melts the paint and then you scrape the putty-like paint = no paint dust in the air.

Thank you Hoosier.

I've purchased some turn of the century single family homes with wood siding on the exterior. When I checked each layer of paint applied to the siding, the first 3 layers had lead. This meant to remove all of the dangerous lead paint, I'd have to remove all 7 layers.

Even though I'm a contractor licensed to remove lead, asbestos and mold, having pressure washers from 300 psi up to 7,000 psi with many different tips -- the wood molding surface will get damaged trying to remove all of the paint. Removing only the loose paint, then sanding and filling wool be necessary to make the surface even. Too labor intensive.

New siding is expansive and will get damaged over time. Dents from balls, exc.

Thank you Robert J.

If one hasn't taken the RRP Lead Base Paint class and get certified, the EPA fines are $37,500 a day for exposing people. How to mask off an area. Hot to Test the paint. And how to dispose of the toxic materials. There are just a few examples.

When dealing with Asbestos or Lead Paint Chips, we often use "Water" in the removal process. Most commercial vacuums are capable of Wet or Dry pick-up, just both at the same time.

I have several HEPA vacuums that work with Wet and dry at the same time. I also have a pressure washer head that has a spinner and a water vacuum pick up. I can pressure wash the paint chip off of a surface and have the waste water and chips get sucked into this special vacuum. Almost no clean up on the ground.

Of course this spinner cost around $500. The special Hepa vacuum is around $1,000.