Best paint stripper solution, since we have lead based paint on the job?

JustAnotherSaver

Bought the Nitromors lead paint test kit from B&Q - £7.98 just to satisfy curiosity.

Anyway, cut the V into the underside of the bannister since this was caked in a million & 1 layers of paint. Rubbed for the stated timeframe & nothing - good news.

Had already cut into the door frame of a bedroom so immediately went to this as there was a 2 minute window - sure enough the tip went pink - lead paint present.

Not a major surprise. While i suspect all the woodwork is original (1932) i think the bannister has a better chance of having been replaced at some point. The door frame only has about 5 layers of paint that we can count.


There's a lot of stripping required. Some of the doors don't shut properly, likely due to the paint on the frames & latches (since when we stripped one with the heat gun, it then finally shut properly). There's 4 door frames upstairs, the stairs to be done, 2 doors downstairs, so since there's lead present we'd rather not get busy with the heat gun & set off the fumes into the air.

We've looked at a few paint stripper solutions but they largely come back as crap on the reviews. 1 star up to about 3 star out of 5.


Is there something on the market that is generally seen as the thing to use?

geoffky

I had 7 layers of paint on my garage doors when i moved in...I made a paste of from caustic soda and water and painted it in using a paintbrush and used gloves....It stripped about 3 layers at a time no problem.....Be very careful with skin if you try it..

JustAnotherSaver

When you read about paint removal, especially lead based paint removal, a lot of it goes on about not getting fumes & dust into the air, such as sanding or using a heat gun.

Is it perfectly safe (on an inhaling level at least) to be using these solutions as opposed to say a heat gun?

Only reason i ask is because the Mrs bought some in today & my God does that stuff absolutely reek!!!

The stuff she bought was this Polycell Advanced Paint Stripper: http://www.diy.com/nav/decor/decorating-supplies/treatments-cleaners-protection/treatments/-specificproducttype-paint___varnish_remover/Polycell-Advanced-Paint-Stripper-1kg-12599157?skuId=13119863 Looks like it only gets 3 stars out of 5, but then most things you read get average scoring at best.

She was considering this stuff, but £2 swayed it.

The Polycell stuff has bubbled up quite quickly but as i say it absolutely hummed. I opened every bloody window upstairs as it stank so bad.

JustAnotherSaver

Well that stuff might stink A LOT, but it's not very good. It's made a mess of the paint, which i suppose is its job, but it hasn't lifted too many layers. Certainly not even close to the 15 it claims. Possibly not even the top coat very well. In patches it's done ok & we can scrape off to the wood, but in most it's only barely lifted a layer.


The Mrs is debating on buying in a respiratory mask & going the heat gun route.

warmhands.coldheart

From what I have been told in a paint shop recently, as I was in looking for paint stripper to do some window cills with 20 odd layers of paint on them, because they have taken all the "Good Stuff" (ie. the bad stuff) out of Paint Strippers and they are now all Water Based, they are all now Pants!!

robatwork

I bought some Kling Strip from ebay as it wasn't available in the normal sheds when I looked. I was stripping lots of layers from an oldish staircase.

It was very effective and I would certainly recommend it above a heat gun - but you have to leave it on for ages - overnight, and cover with cling film.

After getting rid of the stuff I neutralised it with......can't remember but I think lots of water and some white vinegar.

Horrid job so cover up well!

JustAnotherSaver

warmhands.coldheart wrote: »

From what I have been told in a paint shop recently, as I was in looking for paint stripper to do some window cills with 20 odd layers of paint on them, because they have taken all the "Good Stuff" (ie. the bad stuff) out of Paint Strippers and they are now all Water Based, they are all now Pants!!

Yeah i figured as much. This is why i was personally reluctant to buy any of this type of stuff. Many things these days are a shadow of their former selves & aren't up to the job they once were.

It's taken more layers off the door frame and it's gone through to the wood in parts, but it's so incredibly patchy. About 2/3rds the tub has been used & we've only done one side & the top. I shudder to think about how many tubs it'd take to do all 6 door frames required AND the bannister/spindles etc on the stairs.


I'm aware of the problems with lead fumes, but personally i think a dust mask & a heat gun on its low setting, soften the paint up without burning it & then scrape away - i think this approach would be perfectly fine.
I may be wrong & who knows, in 50 years i may die of lead poisoning, but i think so long as the paint gets softened up but not burnt, and the rooms have their windows open, then it'll be fine.

JustAnotherSaver

Do any of you know what this layer will be on the wood?

There's a box like thing in the box room & i stripped it & it had this mustard like layer under the paint layers. It was extremely sticky when soft & stank very solvent-like. Once it'd cooled down again it went real hard.





Well that stuff is also on the door frames & it is an absolute nightmare to get off. If anything it stinks worse than the paint.

We were planning on stripping all the wood, but this stuff is so bloody time consuming.

totallybonkers

We've just done a whole house full of wood (skirting, picture rail, door frames and stairs) covered in multiple layers of paint in our 1930s house. We used various methods, heat gun, caustic soda and our doors were dipped. The guy who dipped the doors said the nasty residue left was primer or varnish but it comes off quite easy when heated, just very sticky. We weighed up the balance of nice wood v lead poisoning and the wood won out this time :-)

JustAnotherSaver

totallybonkers wrote: »

We've just done a whole house full of wood (skirting, picture rail, door frames and stairs) covered in multiple layers of paint in our 1930s house. We used various methods, heat gun, caustic soda and our doors were dipped. The guy who dipped the doors said the nasty residue left was primer or varnish but it comes off quite easy when heated, just very sticky. We weighed up the balance of nice wood v lead poisoning and the wood won out this time :-)

Yeah i thought it was some sort of varnish. Very solventy, VERY solventy indeed. And yes it does remove quite easily when it's softened.

How did you get on removing the paint on everything bar the doors then? Especially curved wood.
Did you remove EVERYTHING for dipping - skirting, picture rails, even door FRAMES?

Our doors aren't painted, but they are coated with something (varnish i guess) that when the room gets warm, it gets sort of tacky/sticky. I was thinking of getting them dipped & repaired.

But the skirting, the dado railing, the door frames - to remove those????


On the topic of lead poisoning, i was wondering how much of this is just scaremongers. Ok if you have the heat gun on full whack & have it about 2mm from the paint & burn the hell out of it while you have your nose down there sniffing in all the fumes - bad for your health.
But if you hold the gun at distance, on a low setting, with all the windows open, while wearing a mask & you only soften the paint & scrape as it softens up ......... i would think at least, that this would be fine.

attila_

I stripped a victorian window with around 8 layers of paint (some interesting colour schemes!) with nitromors.

There's a nack to it (which i learnt after using the first £50 of the stuff on old furniture).

It says leave 30 minutes and apply a new coat. Leave 1 hour and do 3-4 coats. Find something else to do and leave it to do the work. It works very well.

You need some strong elbow grease with a scrapper and then a mouse sander. The window is completely bare and bow coated with a polyurethane clear coating.