Stripping Paint From 1930's Staircase General decorating topics, questions and answers. find help, tips and advice on completing your decorating projects

[BarnoldsDen]

Hi,

I’ve just made my first attempt to strip old (1930s) black and white paint from the stairs.

Was a bit concerned about lead and disturbing the paint flakes. Nitromorse (yellow tin) was alright but it took two hours and one tin to strip only two treads (the first two in the photo below).

Just wondering:

1. Is it ok to sand the bottom two stairs, or do I need to strip these back to the wood?

2. Should stripping be this difficult? Is there a better product out there?

Cheers

Bd

[BarnoldsDen]

Sorry, photo now attached.

[chaz57]

sorry no easy way to do this job only other way is to burn it of using a blow lamp and would not advise so both are very slow to do and the nitramoors will have to be washed down once complete its a PITA of a job i only remember doing it once in a painting and decorating career lasting more than 45 years . good luck

[thedoctor]

Hi

As chas57 says, old paint is notoriously hard to strip off, especially if it's lead-based and by the sound of it I would say there's a good chance that it is. If so you are right to be concerned about disturbing it, you don't want to release any dust into the air that can be breathed it. We do have a project that covers stripping lead paint that may be of use that can be found here: https://www.diydoctor.org.uk/projects/s ... -paint.htm

Kind Regards