Removing Vinyl Paint (not wallpaper)

[ac1dbrn]

Hi All,

I have just moved in to a new place, which is great and thought decorating would be easy, BUT for some bizzare reason they seem to have painted the whole place in vinyl paint. I had a sceptical painter/decorator have a look at it and he conceded that I am probably right and it's really thick. Now...I'd rather not paint over and would like to get the stuff off first, so any suggestions on the best way to remove it?

Many thanks in advance, please not criticisms, not up for that, just advice would be much appreciated.

ac1dbrn

 

[JohnD]

...I'd rather not paint over and would like to get the stuff off first,...

Why?

 

[joe-90]

Crticism? WTF? Just use a pole sander and paint it with Johnstones Cover Plus. You'll never get it off.

 

[JohnD]

A question, not a criticism. Vinyl paint on a wall suggests Emulsion to me. Is it something else?

 

[Growler]

I had a sceptical painter/decorator have a look at it and he conceded that I am probably right and it's really thick.

ac1dbrn

A sceptical painter and decorator.

What is the world coming to

 

[joe-90]

I had a sceptical painter/decorator have a look at it and he conceded that I am probably right and it's really thick.

ac1dbrn

A sceptical painter and decorator.

What is the world coming to

Eh don't criticise him - he's a bit touchy.

 

[Growler]

Wait a bit. Now hang on a touch. I'm going to have a stab at this.

No mention of lining, so I'll rule that out. No mention of plastering, so that's a no go.
Right then: I'm going to guess that it's silk so, if it were me, I'd fill my spray with hot soapy water (bucket and brush will do) then I'd spray it and keep doing so for about 4 hours on and off, not letting it dry. I'd then use a sharp bladed scraper/filling knife and see if it'll come off good. I may even take the pan off my steam/stripper and point the nozzle at it and see if it will strip that way, being careful of course, not to blow and damage the plaster.

Soaking with hot soapy water would be the way forward for me.
There's really only 1 way to find out if my method will work.

 

[ac1dbrn]

In response to the 'I'd rather not paint over' is because the place suffers from condensation, this particular paint isn't helping that.

The 'silk emulsion' suggestion, I initially thought that, but this was met with a response that implied this wasn't the case as the paint (in just the one colour) is pretty thick and the the painter who initially thought that too after scraping off a layer of it pretty much suggested the only way to remove it all is to sand it down and that sounds like a lot of work.

Thanks Growler for the suggestion, will try that.

 

[JohnD]

Paint is not relevant to condensation. More ventilation and less water is what you need. Is it a bathroom, kitchen, bedroom or what?