A heat gun is NOT useful, because the stone just absorbs the heat and the paint stays put.
I removed paint from a brick fireplace a few years ago and it was a nightmare. The usual heavy-bodied (not green) chemical stripper was tedious, so I tried one of those "Peel-Away" products, which said it was for masonry surfaces. A disaster! Though I followed all of the directions, it quickly started hardening into an additional coating, and my husband had to drop what he was doing to help me so that we both could scrape off the stuff as quickly as possible before it completely solidified. It didn't "peel away" at all! If you decide to try it, it's very expensive and you need to just try a tiny section first! It was back to heavy-bodied chemical stripper for the fireplace. That took off all but the initial layer of paint, which must have been specially formatted for painting masonry. For that layer, I literally chipped the paint off speck by speck, which took weeks - and it may have been lead-based paint. Since your porch is outside, you might consider a washing technique? I don't know who would do this, but some brick and stone houses in the area have been powerwashed, so someone must have a recommendation. You have to be very careful not to hurt the surface (stone is more durable than brick, though) and/or pull out the mortar. Another suggestion would be to call Paul Young, a woodwork stripper, who lives on 48th St. I think his phone number is 215-724-7909. Melani Lamond ---- You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named "UnivCity." To unsubscribe or for archive information, see <http://www.purple.com/list.html>.
