Stripping large areas of painted wood

Discussion in 'Painters' Talk' started by OllyUK, Apr 13, 2010.

  1. OllyUK

    OllyUK Member

    Hi we have a five bed town house with large areas of White gloss painted wood. The layers are so thick that we can't see the detailing we want to strip back to bare wood and re paint. As the previous paint is likely to contain lead paint what's the easiest and quickest was to perform?
     
  2. OllyUK

    OllyUK Member

    Btw the property is a renovation property with bare Walls and floors I was thinking about removing the wood work and then getting it dipped and stripped then replaced once Walls have been skimmed
     
  3. decortyke

    decortyke New Member

    Id get someone in to have a look at it. I wouldnt like to advise on something like this because its a potentially dangerous job to someone with little or no experience.
     
  4. PURDY CAT

    PURDY CAT New Member

    I think your idea of removing all painted wood and having it dipped is a sound one. Thats what I normally do in that situation. Like decor.. said its not worth the hassle of trying to strip the wood your self. Its too messy and expensive.
     
  5. Goodwill

    Goodwill Member

    Don't panic Mr. Mainwarring!

    First of all establish the presence of lead paint. You can use one of the commercial test companies, buy a DIY test kit (B&Q used to stock them, I don't know if they still do or some decorators suppliers do) or you can do a test of your own.

    For your own test wear safety goggles, gloves and a good quality charcol filter mask (ABEK and high dust rated).

    Scratch the paint with say 120 abrasive and wipe (a cotton bud is okay for this) into the scratches some ammonium or sodium sulphide (you can get sodium sulphide from a decorators supplier who stocks gold leaf). Any lead will be converted into lead sulphide and will turn black, if the lead content is high it will go to jet, brown if very low.

    As you said the film is thick, go to another part of the paintwork and scratch even deeper, then do the test again. The top coat(s) make be light or free of lead content but previous coats may not be so check the out.

    If it is lead paint then, wearing your safety equipment - especially the mask, remove the paint by either using a paint remover which comes in liquid form, eg Nitromors, or a heat gun. Do not burn it off with a torch as the heat will be too high and release a high level of fumes. Make sure of good ventilation and keep cleaning up as you go. Spray a mist of water every now and again using a domestic cleaner spray gun or similar device. Bag all strippings from the place where they fell and put your overalls in a plastic sack after removing them.

    When you mentioned about removing the woodwork did you mean the architraves, door linings, skirting boards, window boards and the like? That would be an horendous task. Most of such woodwork would have been fixed with cut nails with ovals across the mitres, you would risk splitting the timber along the grain when trying to remove it. Then after all the work of removing it it has to be refitted. Still it's your call.

    Good luck
     
  6. Puma.

    Puma. New Member

    Personally I would buy new - you are going to have to recut the old stuff anyway due to the skim coat. It's not that expensive.
     

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