Most repaints do not need full paint removal. A sand, a spot prime and two good coats over sound existing paint is standard practice, and it is how the majority of homes are maintained for decades. But when the old coating has failed badly enough, painting over it just locks the problem in, and the new paint fails on schedule with the old.
What are the signs the old paint has to go?
Peeling in large sheets is the clearest one. When paint lifts in strips, the bond between layers has already failed, and adding another layer adds weight to a failing system. Deep alligator cracking, where the surface looks like reptile skin, tells the same story through the full thickness of the coating.
Multiple thick layers are a quieter problem. Houses painted a dozen times over fifty years build up a crust that chips at the edges, cracks around joints and holds moisture against the timber. And then there is chalking that never stops: run a hand over the wall and it comes away dusty every time, no matter how often it is washed. Paint cannot grip a surface that is still shedding.
How is paint actually removed?
The method follows the surface. Scraping and sanding handle most timber work, taking the failed coating back to a firm edge. Heat guns soften old layers so they lift cleanly, effective on thick old paint but slow and demanding care around glass and timber. Chemical strippers suit detailed areas like verandah posts, balustrades and mouldings where mechanical methods would chew up the detail.
Brick and render tolerate more aggressive methods, including pressure and abrasive approaches, though the goal is always the same: get back to a firm, sound surface without damaging what is underneath. Timber especially punishes impatience. Torn grain and gouged boards show through every later coat.
What about lead paint?
Homes painted before the early 1970s may carry lead-based paint, usually under newer layers. It is common enough in Geelong's older cottages that age alone justifies caution. Lead paint is safe while it is intact and coated, and a hazard when it is dry-sanded or burned off, because the dust and fumes are the exposure route.
If your home is old enough to suspect it, say so when booking. Testing is straightforward, and where lead is present, the removal approach changes: wet methods, containment, careful cleanup and proper disposal rather than open dry sanding. It adds care and some time, and it is not optional once lead is confirmed or strongly suspected.
The honest trade-off
Stripping adds labour, and it is priced into the quote when it is needed. Full stripping of a whole exterior is a significant job, which is why it is usually reserved for the areas that actually need it: the failing elevations, the thick crusted trim, the verandah details. Partial stripping plus thorough sanding handles most homes.
The alternative, painting over failed coating, is cheaper this month and more expensive when the new paint peels within a year or two. If your house has layers of failing paint, our paint removal service starts by pointing it out at the quote and let you decide with the real numbers in front of you. That conversation is always easier before work starts than after.
What happens after the paint comes off?
Stripping is only half the job. Once the surface is back to bare or firm material, it gets assessed properly for the first time in years, and that inspection often finds things the old paint was hiding: soft timber, rusted fixings, hairline cracks, old filler that has shrunk or cracked. Each gets repaired before any coating goes near the surface.
Bare timber then needs priming the same day it is exposed where possible, because raw wood starts absorbing moisture immediately. The primer is chosen for what comes next, a stain-blocking primer where old tannins or marks might bleed through, a binding primer where the surface is still slightly chalky at its deepest layer. Skipping straight to top coats over freshly stripped timber is the one shortcut that undoes all the stripping work.
How to decide on your own house
Walk the walls and look closely at the worst elevation. Pick at an edge of flaking paint: if it lifts easily and keeps lifting, the failure is in the layers, not the weather. Count the visible layers at a chipped edge. If the answer is a thick crust of many coats, stripping at least the worst areas is likely the honest fix, and it is worth pricing both ways at the quote so the decision is made on numbers rather than hope.