First published: 9 May 2022 @ 6:00 pm
Removing graffiti from the walls of your homes is a very difficult task. The only way to do it is to paint over it again and again until the wall becomes as smooth as new.
However, you may have seen a few products on the market that claim to remove graffiti from your walls. Unfortunately, many of these products are all scams.
The only way to remove graffiti from your walls is by sanding them down with a good quality sander and then applying good quality paint over it.
Photo by Hin Bong Yeung on Unsplash.
About Graffiti
First drawings on walls became popular among the people who lived in caves tens of years ago. Later on, the Ancient Roman and Greek people wrote their names and their protest poems on the buildings.
People started graffiti in Philadelphia in the early 1960s, and by the late 1960s, they had spread to New York City. In the 1970s, people started to use new art forms, and they started to write their names, or ‘tags,’ on buildings in the city.
This practice spread throughout the world as teenagers found different ways of defacing walls with their own writing and pictures without the permission of the owners of those properties they painted on.
At that time, it was sometimes hard to see out of a subway car window, because the trains were completely covered with spray painting masterpieces.
John Lindsay, the mayor of New York City, declared that the first war on graffiti vandals would be started. By the 1980s, it became much harder to write on subway trains to avoid being caught. Many of the more established graffiti artists began using roofs of buildings to create their artwork.
Today, graffiti has become a popular hobby among teens and adults alike and some individuals use it for making money. They have no respect for property owners at all when they start painting their names or create offensive graffiti on the walls in public places such as on billboards and the sides of business property.
Defacing Graffiti
The first removing graffiti tip is to deface them. Defacing graffiti means covering up artwork on a wall with something else. You can deface graffiti by painting over it or by scratching it off with a nail or another sharp object.
Some individuals paint their names and pictures on walls in public places such as buildings, billboards, subway trains, walls in parks, and on the sides of buildings.
However, some people have even defaced their own homes with this graffiti. This kind of vandalism is not only illegal but also harmful to your property because it ruins the value of your home.
If you find someone who has defaced your property and you know who he is, then you may want to report him to the police for his criminal mischief because it will help you keep him away from doing it again in the future.
But if you do not know who has been doing that, you must paint over it again and again until no one recognizes what was written on your walls before the paint was painted over.
Graffiti Removal Methods with Sanders
The second removing graffiti tip is to use sanders. If you find graffiti on your walls and you want to remove it, then you have to paint over it again and again until no one recognizes what was written on your walls before they were painted over.
You will need to buy a good quality sander that is able to remove the graffiti easily. Make sure that the sander is powerful enough to remove the writing or images on your walls.
Also, make sure that the sander has a heavy-duty power cord so that you can move it around the wall quickly without pulling out the power cord.
When you are using a power tool such as a sander, then you need to wear protective equipment such as safety glasses and earplugs because there is always a risk of electric shock when using power tools.
It is also very important for you to wear long pants, shoes, and gloves while working with any kind of power tool because they are very dangerous when used improperly.
If you do not have a good quality sander, it is best for you to paint over your walls repeatedly until no one is able to read what was written on them in the first place.
Photo by Sergi Viladesau on Unsplash.
Tips on Painting Over Graffiti
The third removing graffiti tip is to paint over them. Many people know that they can paint over graffiti with a paint sprayer, but what they don’t know is that you can also use an airless sprayer to cover up the markings.
It is a lot easier to cover up graffiti with an airless sprayer than it is with a paint sprayer because you do not have to work so hard to cover up the graffiti. It does take some time, but if you have enough patience, you will be able to cover up the graffiti.
In this article, we will tell you about all of the things that you need to know about painting over graffiti with an airless sprayer.
What You Will Need
There are several things that you will need for removing graffiti with paint or an airless sprayer. These things include:
- A small utility trailer. This trailer is used for moving the sprayer around while spraying and also for cleaning it off after painting.
- You will also need an extra extension cord or two if your airless sprayer has an extension cord on it so that you can plug it into a power source when necessary.
- A roll of painter’s tape. This tape comes in various colors and sizes and it is used to tape off certain areas so that you do not paint over anything that you do not want to paint over.
- A roll of masking tape. This tape comes in various colors and sizes and it is used to cover up the graffiti when you are painting over it.
Where To Paint
It is best to paint the graffiti on a wall that is not near a window or other type of opening where sunlight can get in. You also need to be careful not to paint too close to an opening, because you will have a hard time covering up the graffiti if you do this.
You also need to be careful not to spray too much paint on the wall, because this will cause the walls to turn yellow from the overspray.
When painting over graffiti, it is always best to start at one end of the wall and work your way towards the other end of the wall, so that you can get all of the spots that need to be covered up without having any problem with over spraying on your part.
Painting The Graffiti
When painting over graffiti, you will want to work in sections rather than working all of it at once, because this makes things much easier for you when it comes to covering up the graffiti.
First, you will want to tape off the area that you are going to paint, so that you do not spray paint over anything that you do not want to paint over. You will also want to tape off the sprayer nozzle so that it does not get in the way when you are painting.
Next, you will want to use a small roller and a roller cover in order to spread out all of the paint evenly across the surface of the wall.
You should work in sections, rather than all at once because this makes things much easier for you when it comes to covering up graffiti.
When spraying a wall with an airless sprayer, it is always best to use a light color of paint in order to help prevent overspray from getting on other areas that need painting as well.
The light color of paint also helps prevent overspray from getting on nearby walls or windows as well.
Always wear protective equipment such as safety glasses and earplugs when you are using a power tool. It is also very important for you to wear long pants, shoes, and gloves while working with any kind of power tool because they are very dangerous when used improperly.
Learn More About Home Improvement
In conclusion, removing graffiti from your private property can be done by sanding them down with a good quality sander and/or applying good quality paint over it.
If you know who is responsible for the graffiti on your wall (or on any public property), you can also do report graffiti so that they can hold the culprit accountable.
Our blog, HandyWork, has more articles about home improvement and DIY tips. You can check out more of our articles by clicking here.