How to remove paint from a path?

[Sue]

My neighbour had the misfortune to employ somebody who painted her front door step with gloss weatherproof paint without informing her when he was coming, and who then omitted to put up a "wet paint" sign.

Consequently, said paint has been trodden over my newish Victorian-style tiled path by people going to her house and then mine. It had dried on before I noticed it the following day.

Can anybody recommend a way of removing it without damaging the tiles? I'm afraid that either scraping or paint stripper could damage the surface. They are those little black and white tiles.

The painter has disclaimed responsibility on the grounds that he left a small brown foodwaste bin on the path in front of the step. He did - sadly, as it was the day the bins were emptied, this was hardly sufficient to warn people of wet paint, since much of the road probably had bins left on their paths.

(6)

Just to be clear - I am not in any way blaming my neighbour for what happened.

[Jeremy]

Perhaps some fine sandpaper? The surface of the tiles should be tough enough to avoid serious damage.

[red devil]

Do you not have any spare tiles left over? If not, you should be able to get hold of some from whoever did the tiling or the supplier...that way you can try out various remedies without worrying about damaging your path tiles.

[Loz]

A pressure washer might do the job.

[red devil]

Loz Wrote:

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> A pressure washer might do the job.

Hosepipe ban...

[Sue]

Thanks for your suggestions, all.

The person who did the tiling did not leave me any leftover tiles, unfortunately. I might possibly be able to get hold of some from somewhere to practice on - good idea.

Loz, even apart from the hosepipe ban, do you think a pressure washer would be strong enough to get off dried-on paint?

[Loz]

Possibly. Those things are pretty good, especially as the paint was trodden on, rather than brushed on, so it's probably a thin layer. No guarantees, but it might be your best bet. And some of them work from a water butt (if you have one), so would get around the hosepipe ban.

[maxxi]

You need to heat it and it will scrape off without scratching or scorching etc. - a hot air paint stripper would do it and shouldn't damage your tiles.

[Sue]

maxxi Wrote:

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> You need to heat it and it will scrape off without

> scratching or scorching etc. - a hot air paint

> stripper would do it and shouldn't damage your

> tiles.

xxxxxx

Ah! That's a good idea!

I've got one somewhere :)

Yes, it's a very thin layer Loz (but still very noticeable).

I don't have a water butt - no space for one, or at least, it would take up space that I'd rather have for plants .... but thanks for the suggestion anyway.

[dbboy]

you could try white spirit (turps)on a very snall area perhaps in a corner to see if that removes it

[Sue]

dbboy Wrote:

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> you could try white spirit (turps)on a very snall

> area perhaps in a corner to see if that removes it

xxxxxx

Thanks, that was the first thing I tried - it didn't work.

ETA: I also tried a dish scourer - that didn't work either.

[Sue]

Blimey, this was an old thread!

The person who painted the outside of my house managed to get most of the paint off.

Sadly another person who subsequently painted the outside of my neighbour's house then spattered white paint all over the path, my rope tiles next to the path and the plants in pots next to the path ......

C'est la vie ......