hey all..

my parents have a terracotta statue that was originally painted dark
green shade to make it look weathered and old. I believe that how it was
when they bought it. they decided 2 years ago to touch it up with a
different green color and hired a guy to paint it. however, he used a
wrong type of green (bright loud green) (I think he didn't do it right)
and my mom didn't like it.


I was told that a paint stripper would do the job of removing the old
paint to terracotta. spray the stripper at the statue, let it set and
use jet spray to remove it completely.


when using jet spray, is using a garden hose spray gun approriate for
this task? does it have enough water pressure to remove & break up the
paint?


would a high pressure water machine be need for this job? if so, how
much pressure is needed?

Use a small amount of paint stripper and a
Q-tip in an not noticible spot on the statue first to see how much effort
it takes. Then if it works, I'd brush on the remover, wait the required
amount of time and gently brush it, and the paint, off. Repeat as
necessary.

Do they just want to take off spots of the green paint where the touch up
was done, or was the entire statue painted with the icky-green? If it's
the latter, than proceed as above. If it's the former, I'd go with Q-tips
or a small brush for the touch up areas, and blot most of the stripper
off, then wash. Again, repeat as necessary.


If the paint(s) are water based, so much the better. If one or both are
oil based, choose the appropriate stripper and clean with thinner, then
alcohol, then water.

I neglected to mention a certain fact about the statue. it is a
terracotta water fountain statue of an 18thC young boy & girl. it s
about 4 feet high and about 3 feet in diameter.

I don't have a problem using a pressure hose, if the garden spray gun
doesn't do the trick. I did get some of it off with the garden spray
hose.

is it possible that the wrong type of paint stripper was used? I didn't
get tho. and I find out later that it was terracotta.

they want the whole icky green paint removed completely. isn't
brushing the paint off a lot of work?

I don't know what kind of paint was used on the statue as there are 2 or
3 coats of a different color green. the original dark green color, I
was told that it took 2 coats to get an ancient weathered look. the
icky green color I assume took up 1 coat.

I already started work on it, see message to tim wright for details. i
did get some of it off.

What was underneath?

Was the statue originally painted a terra cotta color, or did you mean
it is made of unglazed clay? If the latter, it will be fairly porous and
absorbent, and I doubt you'd be able to get the paint off without
seriously damaging the clay.

terracotta is pink colored right? How do I tell it is unglazed clay?

the bowl part of the fountain, it most of it was stripped of the paint
as stripper was mixed with the water as it was being washed off. it
revealed the terracotta's pink color.

I suppose it was glazed or stained transparently before painting.

The color terra cotta is something like this:

http://www.buygifttissue.com/images/Terra_Cotta.gif

which doesn't look at all pink to me. There are variations depending on
the clay used, but I've not seen any that run to pink.

When I search google images for "pink terra cotta," I get only a couple
of dozen hits with no consistent color.

The quintessential terra cotta is used to make flower pots, like this:

http://www.westvanflorist.com/image.php?productid=19397

If you've ever touched one of those, you know they're not glazed, not
very dense, a little bit porous. They can be painted or glazed, which
would of course change the color. Glazing would make them harder and
smoother, assuming the usual meaning of glazing, which involves
kiln-baking. Paint would absorb into the clay.

I think I'm not going to be able to tell from here what your statue is
made of. But if paint stripper is doing the job without damage, then
strip away.

bill

I took a look at it. it doesn't look like there is any damage to it. I
think my parents brought the wrong kind of stripper. unfornately, I
don't remember what brand or kind of stripper it was. garbage man
already picked it the stuff up.

I do note that the stripping apparently revealed the original old paint
(dark green). there a number of places on the statue where both the new
& old paint has been stripped to reveal a gray stone. I assume this is
the original terracotta.


bottom bowl of the fountain does have a pinkish color after stripping.
it does look like 2 type of terracotta may have been used.

Not that it's any help in this context, but I've heard that the best
way to make an outdoor feature look weathered and old is to paint it
with yoghurt and wait.

Has anyone ever tried this?
--
John Hatpin