The first thing you should know is that there is no single tool that will remove house paint in every instance and form. Rather, you need to think of yourself as a warrior fighting a battle against bad, peeling, alligatored, loose, and otherwise insubstantial existing paint--that is, paint will not provide a solid base for the next layer of paint.
Even with that said, tool manufacturers and solvent companies for ages have been promoting the "miracle paint stripper" for all of your house paint problems. Ahhh...if only it were that easy.
So, we present to you a series of tools and solvents that you can use at your option to remove exterior house paint during the prep stage of your next painting project.
The Paint Shaver
What Is It?:Lots of tools claim to shave paint, but there is one brand-name tool called The Paint Shaver that does just that--and well. It's a tool used by pro painters to remove paint with relative ease. A vacuum sucks away stripped debris and collects it for later disposal.
How Effective? (1-10):
9.
What You Won't Like::
The Paint Shaver is ultra-expensive, starting at $600 (July 2011). It's bulky, too.
What You Will Like::
It's the tool-to-end-all-tools for removing paint from your house exterior.
