Exterior Painting Step 2: Scraping Loose Paint 

This video makes me feel like I'm back in the 90's-- love it!

Your tips and techniques are the best John! 😃 You make it fun and not a job!👍

Finally a video that helps! Thank you! Glad you told me about the radio, it would have turned out terrible 😂😂

Just finished painting my house's exterior. Great tips in all of the videos in this series - I watched some multiple times, John. I learned quite a bit, even though I'd painted the exterior before. The only thing that I would add to Step 2 is to recommend wearing safety glasses during scraping, especially when scraping overhead such as the soffit. Really easy to get a paint chip in the eye - and that sucks!

Thank you so much...this was EXACTLY WHAT I NEEDED....

Love this guy! I’m ready to do this!

Jake, thanks for commenting. Good point. Bottom line is you have to scrape whatever direction is necessary to remove the peeling paint without damaging the siding. It sometimes takes a little experimentation. I was taught that if you can't pick away at the edge any more with your fingernail, then it's scraped sufficiently and you can move on.

loved the vid, and ya you're right about the radio!

That's a good point. I've worked with lead paint, and even taken a lead-abatement class offered through the painters' union, but where I live (out west) it's fairly uncommon to see lead paint. It's more common back east where houses are older (in general). But I will add a note to this video warning people about lead paint and recommending they hire a professional if lead paint exists on the house, and I will make sure to include that in my interior videos too. Thanks very much for commenting.

the lead paint advisory is very important. i moved into an old co-op prewar apartment. the first thing i did was chip off samples off the walls and door frames to test for lead paint. you do not want to breath the dust in when you are scraping. there's also circular metal brush attachments for your drill if you dont want to waste too much time.

I am very excited getting started. Thank you so much for making it easy on us. I just have a question. The paint on my siding is so old and flaky you can very easily get to the bare wood. Do you recommend I prime and seal all of the house before painting it? thanks so much for all your advice and help..

Thanks for the advise, much appreciated

Great Vid I'm new to this so thank you

I don't recommend using paint on unpainted surfaces such as your garden shed unless you prime it first. You could use a stain without priming, as you noted. As for the fence, I do think it would be a good idea to power wash it before painting. Have fun with that new paint sprayer! If you are going to spray the fence, get some large pieces of cardboard to slide underneath while you go to prevent dirt from kicking up into the fence when you spray.

Is it necessary to get all the paint off or is it sufficient to just scrape the loose paint off?. I've been scraping for days on house panels that are sort of rough in texture so it's really difficult to get all the paint off. Some is just bonded so well that applying enough pressure to remove it is also damaging the wood. I've pressure washed the entire house which removed a lot of the loose paint. I'm scraping and wire brushing the entire house to remove the remaining loose paint. Even a sander isn't taking all the paint off.

just curious buying a house that was just recently repainted a lovely pinkish peach color. Part of the house is stone and the other is wood siding. Would i need to scrap off paint on all the wood siding or just areas that show some bubbling or pealing

Dude rockin a 90s Sony Walkman Radio 👀

Thanks man!

Can you link to your siding spackle video? I love your videos and have looked on your website and RU-vid but can't find anything! I had quite a few spots where the scraping has caused the paint to be gouged and would appreciate seeing your technique!

A heat gun can be an absolute god send for losing paint, too.

Can I use exterior paint on my unpainted garden shed that's unpainted except for the trims or do I HAVE to use stain products? I also want to re-stain my fence, do I need to power wash both first? I just bought a Graco Magnum LTS 15 airless paint sprayer, never used one before but I'm excited to do so.

If you have mold spores "underneath" the paint, you might want to pressure wash after scraping. Usually pressure washing will remove paint that is really flaking off, and this can save some time when scraping. I always pressure wash first because most mold and mildew I've encountered have been on the surface of the old paint, not underneath. I can't seen any reason it wouldn't work to pressure wash after scraping, though.

Does this technique work for concrete block as well?

To the point.... thank ya

How to you pick up the scraped off paint

Boy, that's a tough one to answer without seeing the wall and the extent of the peeling. Sometimes when people do things like that there is no easy solution for fixing it. The best advice I can give you is to take some pictures of the problem and visit a couple local paint stores for advice. In some cases a paint-store manager will even come out and take a look. This might require a professional fix, possibly even stripping the paint off and starting over. Good luck with it!

I can't seem to find the "How to Spackle Exterior Siding" video you referenced? I would really like to find out if using spackle for this purpose is viable - every exterior spackling product I've seen fimly states not to use for "skim coating" but the definition of "skim coating" seems to vary depending on who I talk to. I can't find any definitive answers about using exterior spackle to feather adhered paint edges and would LOVE to know what your experience has been (and anyone else on here). Also, any product recommendations would be fantastic! I've been looking at MH Ready Patch, Platinum Patch (new DAP product), and just using exterior caulking. (My project is in the Pacific Northwest if that's relevant.) Thanks for all the highly instructive videos!

It is a good idea to sand after scraping anyhow isn't it?

My only suggestion is to not let your existing paint get so bad that you have to do extra work. Good job on the videos.

what is your suggestion for cleaning up the scrapped pieces around the house after you are completely done scrapping? Do you lay down a sheet to catch the scraps or go around and just pick up the big pieces by hand? Any tips on clean-up from your experience would rock. thx!

I took a pause during scraping to watch this video and hope for some answers. 1. Im scraping asbestos shingles, how much pressure should I apply? 2. Alot of the old paint is scraping off, what should I do with the paint that remains? The bond between the old paint and the surface is still good so leave it alone, right? Thanks for your time.

Thanks so much for these very informative videos. In this video, (at 3:17) you spoke of "the little edges that scraping leaves behind, the little crators in the siding where there used to be paint"... you recommended a video in the Tip section on How to use siding spackle on a house. I'm interested in watching that video but I have been unable to locate any ""Tip Section" or anything titled, "How to use spackle..." Perhaps you could steer me in the right direction if that video still exists. Thanks.

I'm planning to repaint my house and I had one quick question. Do I need to take off all the old paint or is it okay to leave some old paint that was not able to be scraped off?

I have a problem with my kitchen. The previous owners did not prime the wall. They painted an ugly green paint right onto the plaster. It's really hard to remove the paint without chipping up the wall itself. I want to strangle them for not using primer. Any tips? Paint scraping a non-primed kitchen wall is a nightmare.

I thought scrapping off the paint then followed by pressure washing would make more sense. But you recommended the reverse. This will killing the mold spores that have attached to the wood surface under the paint. Can please explain the pros and cons of the sequence? Thx.

To follow up on what I’ve found: After some pretty deep searching that took me through virtually every exterior spackle available, I ended up talking to a couple of paint chemists and exterior compound product developers who suggested using elastomeric patching compounds for this application. The product I’ve found is Tower Category 5 Elastomeric Patching Compound - it’s a smooth knife-on grade compound. It can’t be sanded but it can be feathered on the surface with a putty knife and wet rag/sponge and it will flex with the movement of the wood without cracking or separating from the substrate. I’m a little nervous that nobody on the internet seems to be talking about this, so if any of you have any thoughts - I’d love to hear them!

Your videos are great and I'm looking forward to the interior ones this summer. However the big thing that needs to be addressed about scraping or sanding is lead! You must protect your customers by law or face heavy fines if caught. Also I'm sure your family would appreciate being protected from anything you bring into your own house. Almost all house built before 1978 have lead. You need to be certified to work on houses that old if you are disturbing paint unless its your own primary residenc

how much it costs for exterior paint?

Hi howtopaintahouse! Love your videos, very easy to follow! I bought a scraper @ Home Depot and the blade wore away and cracked in half in 1/2 hour of scraping! Can you help me find a stout curved blade scraper like yours? know where to find one? It broke and I haven't even scraped 1/30th of the house! Pieces of junk @ Home Depot! Can you please help me?

Hey John great videos man!! I am a novice painter and i am doing a job at an apartment complex.. their main objective was to just scrape it and touch it up with new paint... my question is can I still power wash it, if a small portion has been scraped would that harm anything..also can you rent a paint sprayer and what kind should I rent?. Again great videos im going to be purchasing your book. Please respond thanks.

Does the whole need to be stripped before painting? Paint is not peeling bad, majority of the house is pretty good. I'm changing the color .And also could I just ruff up the old paint and smooth it with sandpaper and prime over it in the areas that is not peeling?

"do not attempt this without a radio" lol. earbud tech has progressed quite a bit since 2012 so you dont need to suffer with local radio

Great guidance...I have BADly peeling, flaking paint on my eaves that have long nails shooting through the wood and down 1 or more inches (thanks bad roofers!). I removed the vinyl to reveal all this... I'd replace the wood with a new roof, then paint...but I don't need a new roof!! Any tips about the nails and working about them? I'm thinking pressure wash, long wire brush and perhaps spraying (vs. rolling/brush)...Help!

What I think I am going to do is a. strip what paint I can that comes off b. sand down what doesn't so I know what is there will stay c. prime and paint I can't strip it all, but I can strip some of it.. I think that's the best I can do... thx :)

Criminy, we already KNOW this. Nothing new here. I was hoping for some brilliant new ideas. lol

good info for the people . what part of U.S you work out of?

Hi can i remove the exterior paint with a power washer thank you

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I wish I watch this video five months ago I ruined my iPad while painting listening to music LOL😅😂😂

If you scrape good enough, you shouldn't need to sand the exterior of a house in most cases, unless there are highly visible areas you want to look extra nice. Some people use siding spackle to fill in craters created by scraping paint off. If you do that then the spackle needs to be sanded. But spackling an exterior is purely cosmetic, and I try to avoid it because it's labor-intensive.

The music is way to loud.

my only disagreement...... IMO going against the grain first gets more of the paint chipping started, then going with the grain you will get more off that wouldnt have came off going with the grain first. sometimes nothing comes off till you start that one little chip going against the grain.....

00:47 hardon hueheueheuehu

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I recommend bluetooth headphones

Radio Cool Im goin to kMart by

The music is just awful....... Couldn't even finish the video.