Lead paint removal

The house I’m renovating was built in 1857. It was last worked on in the 50’s. I’m therefore assuming that there’s lead paint either on the surface or under later, post 1979, layers.

Many of the doors are original, beautiful, solid, panelled doors. They’re also covered in layers of paint. If I wasn’t dealing with lead paint, I would simply strip them back to the original wood.

I’ve read a bunch of stuff on removal of lead paint and not happy with any of them. My options appear to be:

1. Leave alone, paint over

Strip in a sealed chamber wearing full hazmat suit and mask, hepa vac.
2. Using a scraper, water spray and sandpaper
3. Using a heat gun, scraper and sandpaper
4. Using chemicals

5. When I helped my parents back in the late 80’s we had our doors ‘dipped’ - someone picked them up, soaked them in some kind of solution and returned them paint free for £30 ($40) a door.

I love the idea of natural wooden doors, but fear it maybe expensive, time consuming, hazardous, creating more pollutants.

What are your thoughts? Is there a safe / practical solution that minimises risk / waste? Have you tackled a similar problem?


Original door with chipped and flaking paint

So cool to see all the progress you're making, Edward! It's inspiring! When we started remodeling our house, we knew there was the possibility of lead. Tons of flaky paint, so just painting over wasn't really an option. We got some of the home lead test kits and checked the areas we were going to have to disturb paint. They were negative, so we went ahead and removed the paint. We still wore crazy respirators, gloves, eye protection and coveralls. Removing paint is yucky even when there isn't lead. It's really made me want to avoid paint whenever possible. Maybe it would be worthwhile to get a few lead tests and check to confirm that it is in fact an issue? The odds are fairly high once you get into pre-1940s, so maybe not as worthwhile in your case. I'm glad you're being careful about this. Lead is nothing to mess around with. To me, it seems if you could find someone with a similar setup to the 'dip' situation you described, it could be worth it.

Hmm...nice panelled doors. I bet those inner panels are nice wood too (ours turned out to be hardboard :( )
You have to be a bit careful with the soak method - I've been told the chemicals can damage the wood surface. My friend on Eigg says they can just leave painted wood at the top of the hill and all paint is removed within a year ;) .
When I've done similar doors in the past, I've used a heat gun and sandpaper. But if you are worried about lead ingestion you would need to wear appropriate protection or do it outdoors (away from other people or growing areas...) It does take a lot of work to make good, and you get through a lit of sandpaper and fingertips.
I wonder whether there is a way of mimicking the weather action of Eigg? Maybe with a CO2 Ice shot blast?
I would not be inclined to just paint over them if they are peeling. You will see splits and peeling again very quickly I suspect.

Heather Sharpe wrote:So cool to see all the progress you're making, Edward! It's inspiring! When we started remodeling our house, we knew there was the possibility of lead. Tons of flaky paint, so just painting over wasn't really an option. We got some of the home lead test kits and checked the areas we were going to have to disturb paint. They were negative, so we went ahead and removed the paint. We still wore crazy respirators, gloves, eye protection and coveralls. Removing paint is yucky even when there isn't lead. It's really made me want to avoid paint whenever possible. Maybe it would be worthwhile to get a few lead tests and check to confirm that it is in fact an issue? The odds are fairly high once you get into pre-1940s, so maybe not as worthwhile in your case. I'm glad you're being careful about this. Lead is nothing to mess around with. To me, it seems if you could find someone with a similar setup to the 'dip' situation you described, it could be worth it.

Thank you for sharing your personal experience.

I think a test on the doors sounds like a good idea. I’d still use all the precautions and strip them outside. This could be an easy win . . . Well there’s nothing easy about restoring 18 doors . . . I haven’t mentioned the 36 sash windows!  

I haven’t had much luck searching for the ‘dip’ solution - probably lost in translation somewhere.

Nancy Reading wrote:Hmm...nice panelled doors. I bet those inner panels are nice wood too (ours turned out to be hardboard :( )
You have to be a bit careful with the soak method - I've been told the chemicals can damage the wood surface. My friend on Eigg says they can just leave painted wood at the top of the hill and all paint is removed within a year ;) .
When I've done similar doors in the past, I've used a heat gun and sandpaper. But if you are worried about lead ingestion you would need to wear appropriate protection or do it outdoors (away from other people or growing areas...) It does take a lot of work to make good, and you get through a lit of sandpaper and fingertips.
I wonder whether there is a way of mimicking the weather action of Eigg? Maybe with a CO2 Ice shot blast?
I would not be inclined to just paint over them if they are peeling. You will see splits and peeling again very quickly I suspect.

Thanks Nancy - I really hope they’re all hardwood, not hardboard. They’re certainly heavy. I remember a similar solution to getting stubborn pots and pans clean. Climate hear is a bit different. I’m currently enjoying the brief spring that exists between damn cold and damn hot. I think heat gun and outside on a tarp would be the best option. There’s something here called citristrip . . . Further investigation needed.

There were places that would "dip and strip" furniture when I was young, and the two chairs my Mother's friend had done were damaged.

I used chemicals to do this when I was a teen -  they did the job and put less dust in the atmosphere and we did corral the goop that resulted. However, knowing more about the environmental impact, it would be looking for the safest options I could, and both the starting goop and the contaminated with old paint goop are potential toxins.

Around that same era, a friend did a bunch of work like this for a landlord and used the heat-gun system. She gave me the impression that it worked better on some paints/finishes than others, and that she wouldn't know until she tried it. I don't think she used the lung protection she should have, but the dangers weren't as respected then as they are now.

A bit later, I ran into a fellow that was refinishing furniture in a "sheltered workshop" for mentally impaired adults. He said that the liquid was too expensive for their meager budget, so he said they used glass - cut into appropriate shapes or sizes. Maybe try an internet search on that idea? I didn't see it in action, but he insisted it was being done safely and was incredibly cheap. I pictured at the time them using them as 'glass scrapers' and I know just how sharp glass can be!

As an adult, we were refinishing kitchen walls and I wasn't aware of the test kits - but I still didn't want the dust in my lungs. Hubby had a dive tank and I used his SCUBA regulator and an extra long hose to the tank. I was guaranteed to be breathing decent air, which I wouldn't get with any mask as my face is outside the average adult norms and extremely hard to fit. That said, Covid has changed that - there's much more variety available now.

Edward, here's a place in Boston that does what you need, for reference, comparison?
Olde Bostonian

They also deal in "architectural antiques", AKA architectural salvage, which seems like a complimentary sort of business, and possibly a search term to try.

Kenneth Elwell wrote:Edward, here's a place in Boston that does what you need, for reference, comparison?
Olde Bostonian

They also deal in "architectural antiques", AKA architectural salvage, which seems like a complimentary sort of business, and possibly a search term to try.

Thanks - just the kind of place I need to find locally.

Done some tests - top coat no lead, layers underneath, leaded . . . So full hazmat suit and gas mask, in the garden on a tarp with the family and dog locked inside.

I've tested 20 or so places in the house and the only other lead I've found is on door frames in the basement, which I'll just paint over. I'll document for the next owner.

As a child of the 70's I'm sure half the calcium in my body has already been replaced by lead . . .

Hi,  When I did my lead removal, I used a full hazmat and chemical respirator. I also used a non toxic paint stripper. It worked really well, and there was very little dust. If the moldings can come off the doors, it is easier to remove them and replace with new ones.  If sanding is necessary then a heat gun and a sanding sponge is sometimes easier.  A friend of mine used his router with a shaping blade and removed most of the paint but it did fly.

Hope you do well    

Kenneth kinda beat me to the punch but I suspect in your part of the country, there are companies that specialize in this.  Both for doors/windows/furniture that can be moved to their shop and for items that have to be done in place.  I'm sure it isn't cheap.

Some years ago, I was stripping an inherited high chair for my baby son as it had last been painted in the 60s and I thought the paint would have contained lead. I used a non toxic paint stripper which actually smelled gorgeous but it took ages as it was so fiddly. Because it was wet there was very little dust and the residue just washed away with plain water. When I mentioned what I'd been doing to my mum, she said: "Oh, we used "nursery paint" as it was lead-free." Talk about making work for yourself. I assume you can get similar paint strippers in the US. I have a habit of burning things if I use heat guns so couldn't recommend that.
As I was a child in the 60s, so older than you, my body is probably full of lead from the petrol fumes, particularly as we were outside playing in the streets from breakfast time until bed time.