Lead paint

[Flyfisher]

Has anyone tried those lead tester 'pens' available in DIY stores?

We all know that old houses may contain lead paintwork but I've never bother with testing for it before last week when I started to prepare an old outside door that is now indoors following our recent kitchen extension. It hadn't been painted in many years/decades and although still in solid condition the paint was so badly flaking that a quick sand down and repainting was not really an option. It had to be stripped almost right back.

So, mindful of the possibility of lead paint, I bought one of those tester 'pens'. The instructions state to cut a groove in the paint, to expose all layers, before using the 'pen' and to hold it against the paint for up to 30 seconds to ensure it has enough time to detect any lead, in which case the indicator turns red.

In my case, as soon as the pen touched the paint it turned bright red!

So, rather than use a heat gun and a sander, I've been using paint stripper for the first time in many years - and what a difference since they all went 'eco-friendly' compared with the chemical weapons-grade stuff I've used before

Does anyone have a better method for removing lead paint?

 

[Alex]

I can't help you I'm affraid but I will be watching everyones replies with great interest as I am sat here looking at chipped paint on a doorframe, under which is a rather suspicious shade of dark green. Probably containing lead, arsenic ............................etc.

 

[Owain]

Does anyone have a better method for removing lead paint?

Not unless you send it off to a dip-and-strip type place which dunks the whole think in nasty stuff.

I would not advocate that for delicate or historic objects but if your period property is going Seventies stripped pine then it's probably okay.

 

[Flyfisher]

Oh no, I'm not risking that approach! I'm pretty sure the door is a few hundred years old and I don't even want to remove it from its 'H' and 'L' hinges in case of any damage.

The door itself is basically sound, it's just the paintwork that has suffered from decades of neglect. I don't need to completely strip it back to the wood as I'll be repainting it, but I want to get a reasonably smooth surface to work with.

 

[JoceAndChris]

I really don't see how you'll get smooth without good old sandpaper. Just make sure you're in a proper mask and gloves, vacuum up all the dust and carefully wrap the vacuum bags to dispose. Lovely that you have such fascinating old objects to work on, what a shame they come with a rather toxic history!

 

[Moo]

Wet & Dry sandpaper?

 

[plasticpigeon]

I strip paint with a heat gun, trying to just melt the paint as little as it needs to be to scraped off. I then paint a primer and wet sand that to get a good finish. That way I am not sanding the lead paint much, and the paint from the heat stripping is much easier to contain than the dust from sanding if disposable plastic sheets are put down which can then be used to wrap up the paint which are then bagged for disposal.

 

[mr-squirrel]

I totally agree about modern paint stripper - it's almost useless. There must be somewhere on the internet you can get the "good stuff". I wonder what the trade use these days?

It's funny, the toxic components of old paints and preservatives were the very things that made them so effective. One of my neighbours has nice mouldings on their barge boards and the paint has a distinctive dull matt green "Farrow and Ball" look which screams lead. It's been there as long as i can remember and still in great shape.

 

[Me!]

I believe that dichloromethane was the 'good stuff' that has now been banned in paint stripper. Nitromors do still make a solvent based stripper to a new formula , has anyone tried that one? I accidentally bought a tin of the green nitromors many years ago, and that was useless even back then!

 

[Moo]

Do the same restrictions apply to the poultice strippers?

 

[Me!]

There is currently an HSE consultation that you can respond to up until the 4th of January about the limited reintroduction of dichloromethane paint strippers - http://www.hse.gov.uk/consult/condocs/cd265.htm.

They are talking about allowing its use only by trained professionals, but the training and certification is estimated to cost about £120 per person so it is certainly something I would consider doing.

Or, ... it seems dichloromethane hasn't actually been banned completely, it has just been banned in paint stripper. You can still buy it here - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dichloromethane-99-5-Pure-500ml-/140574254717. My last tin of the Nitromors 'good stuff'' says it contains dichloromethane and methanol, but doesn't give the proportions. I cant find the COSHH for the old recipe either, so are there any chemists out there who can advise on the possibility of making a home-brew version?

You can even buy it on Amazon - http://www.amazon.co.uk/AC-PRODUCTS-METHYLENE-CHLORIDE-DICHLOROMETHANE/dp/B005H6QFHY where one of the review comments says "Converts modern paint stripper into the original product when mixed with it. Much better at the job it is intended for.."

 

[noj]

Looks as if 'proper' nitromors was pretty much all dicloromethane!

http://www.buckandhickman.com/Assets/BuckHickman/DataSheets/DS_112699.pdf