How to remove paint from limestone bricks?

[Alexanderand]

How do you remove blue paint from limestone bricks on the exterior of a house please?

We are removing An old water feature on either side of our front door and don’t know how to remove the blue paint effectively without damaging the lime stone. 

 

[EricL]

Hello @Alexanderand 

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. It's sensational to have you join us, and thanks for sharing your questions about removing paint from limestone.

Limestone has a porous surface and when paint is placed over it, the paint gets absorbed into its pores making it extremely difficult to remove. You can try to remove your paint with paint stripper or a steel rotary brush, but it will not leave your wall undamaged. You can also try to sand it down and reduce the amount of paint on the wall. Once you've sanded down as much as you can then repaint that section of the wall.

Let me call on our experienced member s @Dave-1 and @Nailbag for their recommendations.

Please remember to wear personal protection such as gloves, goggles and a mask when working on your project

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric

[Nailbag]

This is a real toughie @Alexanderand as anything you do will to some extent damage the stone. As @EricL mentioned, it's very porous, so the blue stain will be well imbedded. Personally I would avoid using any chemicals that could further discolour the surface.

The only thing I would try is lightly using a steel brush or an 80grit sandpaper as Eric suggested and see how much work it takes to make a change without compromising the stone.

Nailbag

[Dave-1]

Morning @Alexanderand 

All my suggestions are going to be abraisve towards your limestone as well 😕

I was thinking of a wire wheel attachment for a drill and gently (if you can) buffing the surface. Taking your time notto lean into it. But as @EricL and @Nailbag both say its going to cause damage. 

You could try the bottom left of the blue and see if it works, if it dosnt then I would go for a new covering over it to hide, not painting lol I was thinking like a corner box, timber backing or even  a large tile edge like a skirt the height of the blue.

Dave