Lead Paint??

I picked up some items from out front of a house that they were throwing out. One was a supposed 'antique' phone seat, but the plywood and dowel joints sort of suggest otherwise. The other two are a small display unit and a shelf that have been painted in the most hideous colours.

I am wanting to strip back the paint back on the display unit and shelf and either repaint or as natural wood if it looks any good. How do you test if the paint is a lead based paint? and what do you do if it is? I dont think it is lead based but its worth checking i guess if its easy enough to do

Brett

Brett,
There is no easy way to test for lead, unless you have access to an analytical chemist. I would assume that the product is lead based, then deal with it accordingly.

Lead in paint is only harmful if you ingest it or breath it in. So, whatever method you use to strip the paint make sure you do not generate dust and that you wash your hands, etc. well before eating. If you are silly enough to smoke, the warning about washing hands extends to that activity as well.

I'd use either a paint stripper or scraper to remove the paint, then maybe a light plane to remove the last of the paint/wood mix.

Now all you need to do is work out how you will dispose of the stripped paint in an environmentally appropriate manner.

Cheers,
Peter

[This message has been edited by Pete (edited 31 December 2002).]

Go to your local decent paint outlet and ask for a lead test kit. The trick to lead test kits is to test across all layers of paint, not just the top layer. Cut a few slivers with a stanley knife so as to get a bit of each layer of paint. Just make sure when you test it you get contact with each layer of paint.