Replies

1. 
   MajorWool | Feb 19, 2003 01:44am | #1

   I used the stuff which you apply like plaster and then cover with wax paper. 24 hrs later you just peel it off. Hmm, maybe it is called peel-off or peel-away? It is lye based and does a pretty good job of taking it down to the wood. You then neutralize it with dilute vinegar, wash with water, and dry. I used it on both the windows and the sills.

2. 
   Piffin | Feb 19, 2003 04:29am | #2

   If your tests show that you onlyhave lead on the outsides of these windows, you have little to worry about.

   IMO, unless these are spectacular and unique windows, you are far better off replacing them than refurbishing them.

   But if you go ahead, do so knowing that ypou may expose the little one to more lead by disturbing iot with him living there than he is likely to ingest otherwise in his lifetime of living there. The two ways of dealoing with lead is removal and encapsulation. Painting over it makes it safe. It is inert and not going anywhere if it is intact.

   If you do this work, be sure to wear a dust mask N-100 yourself and take off your clothes before going near him.

   .

   Excellence is its own reward!

3. 
   4Lorn1 | Feb 19, 2003 04:26pm | #3

   As an option there are several encapsulating paints designed to cover and hold lead paint so tightly that it largely removes the hazard. Some of these pass rigorous federal standards for protecting children. They have been used as a low cost alternative to lead paint removal. You might try asking around a paint supplier or Googling the relevant terms.

1. 
   MarvinVA | Feb 19, 2003 05:18pm | #4

   Thanks for some feedback -- I'll certainly look into both the lye based stripper and the encapsulating paint.  But both these are missing the point a little.  I want to take the windows out to simplify some of the restoration work.  As long as I have them out, I thought  that taking them off site to get rid of all the paint would be simpler.

1. 
   NormKerr | Feb 19, 2003 08:50pm | #5

   note that the lead is often liberated by wear and abrasion, so stipping the paint from the sash will still leave all the paint on the frames - it will be a good idea to strip the paint out of the sliding / rubbing portions (same goes for around doors).

   Everything else can be covered over with new paint and considered 'abated'.

   Lots of people think that lead gets into kids by them eating it, or chewing it off the woodwork. But that was a '70s misnomer and the latest data shows that the fine dust from wear (and all the dust of paint stripping by well meaning parents ) get much more exposure to the kid.

   Definitely, removing the sash and stripping it somewhere else, especailly by using liquid strippers (Peel Away is NOT lye based, there are several grades pf Peel Away and are all made from more gentle ingredients than that (Peel Away 7 requires no neutralizing after use, and all clean up is just with water, for instance). Avoid using any sanding or scraping at all in your house during this project, and use water to wet down any surface you've got to work with.

   Beyond that, keep yourself clean, carefully clean up each evening before you go near the child, keep them out of any room being worked on until you are very, very done with your project and your young'un ought to be WAY ahead of where we all were at that age!

   Norm

2. 
   Piffin | Feb 20, 2003 05:48am | #6

   You didn't really make that clear.

   I don't know how you define simple or simply, but what you proppose seems like a lot of un-necessary work to me. It can be real easy to spend a thousand dollars saving a three hundred dollar window..

   Excellence is its own reward!