Should you stay or should you go: Lead Pain edition

March 25, 2015 10:45 AM

We bought an antique sideboard for our kitchen a few months ago. It is perfect in form and function. It is very distressed looking and at first we loved it, but now I want to refinish it. Turns out, it was painted with lead paint at some point. Should it stay or should we sell it?

Here is the piece in question.


It it worth it to try to encapsulate the paint? How about the top? The plan was to try to pry off whatever that red material that lines the top, but now I'm worried that it be made of something that would be hazardous of broken, like asbestos. If I can pry that off how could I smooth the leftover surface? I could possibly live with just painting that material and keeping a tablecloth on the top like I have now.
The original finish to the whole piece was a stained walnut(the inside was never painted), but at some point someone painted it white with lead paint. It has been white for a long time. We have only owned it for 6 months.

My plan would be to take it outside and cover it in something that would encapsulate the lead paint, then carry on as normal repainting it for a cleaner look. What could I even use?

Caveat, we have a toddler and I am 5.5 months pregnant. Sideboard is in the kitchen.

So should I give up on this project or is stabilizing it not so difficult?

posted by MayNicholas to Home & Garden (19 answers total)

I would absolutely get rid of it. You can't control a child scraping or chewing on things .... and really, this is an opportunity to remove a known hazard -- why would you not? The goal is to prevent lead exposure to children before they are harmed.
posted by Dashy at 10:51 AM on March 25, 2015 [3 favorites]

Have you considered having the finish professionally stripped?
posted by werkzeuger at 10:57 AM on March 25, 2015 [1 favorite]

I came in to recommend stripping too. This site says that encapsulation is really best where the lead paint coating is intact. Since you describe your sideboard as "distressed" I'd have to guess that it's not intact. In that case, it might be easier to strip it and repaint.

I would get someone else to do it though, since you're pregnant and all.
posted by cabingirl at 11:00 AM on March 25, 2015

If you love it, have it professionally refinished.
posted by anastasiav at 11:03 AM on March 25, 2015

Response by poster: It never occurred to me to have someone else handle this!
Would this be something expensive? We only have $50 in this piece. We certainly wouldn't pay someone $300 to refinish it because we could replace it for that.
The paint is definitely not in tact, so I guess encapsulation is out.
posted by MayNicholas at 11:19 AM on March 25, 2015

I was going to say "keep it, you're probably fine" until I read that you have a small child and another on the way. Nope, you're best off getting rid of it. Especially since it's in the kitchen. If you use it to store anything involved in preparing or serving food, please get rid of it.

If you absolutely must keep it, hire a professional to do the stripping or encapsulation - someone who is experienced with lead paint removal - and make sure they take it somewhere else to do so.
posted by Metroid Baby at 11:20 AM on March 25, 2015 [1 favorite]

If you want it, take it somewhere for somebody else to strip and. Lead was also used in varnishes so there might be lead in natural finished wood also. Having a toddler and being pregnant means you shouldn't keep it unless the lead is removed and you certainly shouldn't do it yourself or at home. An adult can have some exposure to lead children none.
posted by Pembquist at 11:21 AM on March 25, 2015 [1 favorite]

Why do you think the top might be asbestos? Was it used in a kitchen before, and needed a heat/fire proofed top? It looks like the top of an old desk I had once... some kind of dreary vinyl product.
posted by zennie at 11:29 AM on March 25, 2015

You could have it sprayed at a place that does auto-body work, but it's not going to look like an antique. I've had old furniture done in bright shiny colors and I loved the results, but it's not for everyone.
posted by Ideefixe at 11:40 AM on March 25, 2015

Response by poster: Not thread sitting... It does look like the top of a desk. I have no real reason to believe that it is asbestos, just covering my bases. I definitely don't think it is original to the piece though. No clue if it was used in a kitchen before. That's just what we use it for. It looks like it was left outside at some point. It doesn't have to look antique after refinishing. I was actually going to go with yellow. My mom offered to strip it for me but I'd feel awfully terrible if she got lead poisoning from it.
posted by MayNicholas at 11:55 AM on March 25, 2015

Nthing ditching it. Lead migrates through the skin, and even trace amounts are harmful. Not for kitchen use, especially with small children.
posted by effluvia at 11:58 AM on March 25, 2015

I wouldn't worry that your mom would get lead poisoning from refinishing the piece, but that it takes professional levels of air filters to strip such a piece without getting lead paint dust everywhere (including, likely, places where you and your kids will be spending time, too).

You could try calling a furniture stripping/refinishing place to ask how much it'd be to have them do it, but I'm guessing it'll be more cost effective to just replace it. Go you for looking out for your kids against lead!
posted by ldthomps at 12:06 PM on March 25, 2015 [1 favorite]

Caveat, we have a toddler and I am 5.5 months pregnant. Sideboard is in the kitchen.

No. No. No. Get rid of it. There is no safe level of lead in children. You make food in the kitchen. You wouldn't spend $300 to refinish this sideboard? Consider that chelation therapy (the only known treatment for lead poisoning) costs ten times that. Get rid of the sideboard and get everyone in the family tested for lead levels.
posted by KathrynT at 12:40 PM on March 25, 2015 [1 favorite]

That thing is a lead hazard as is! To the dump asap.
posted by yarly at 12:51 PM on March 25, 2015

For fifty fucking dollars? Get rid of it and replace it. I have spent the hours on the phone with poison control after finding my child with a paint chip in his mouth (no lead in the end). Just the phone calls alone were worth more than $50 of my time.

One of my kids had a slightly elevated lead level (not unusual where we live from industrial pollution) and THIS SET OFF TWO YEARS OF PANIC, SPECIAL HOUSE CARE, AND DOCTORS' APPOINTMENTS until it slipped back under the measurability threshold. Do not fuck around with this for $50.

I figured this was like a $5300 piece from the fact that you're considering keeping it. For $50 just ditch it.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 12:53 PM on March 25, 2015 [7 favorites]

If you didn't have small kids, I would say maaaaaybe keep it, but you do have small kids, so get rid of it!
posted by mskyle at 1:38 PM on March 25, 2015

i just wanted to add that the paint which is used to "encapsulate" lead paint is special, very thick paint... and it doesn't work very well and would look weird on furniture besides. If you are pregnant, *please* do not try to strip this piece of furniture, don't let anyone strip it on your property even. Stripping is labor intensive and very easy to goof and get serious lead exposure and produces a lot of toxic waste.

Get rid of it.
posted by ennui.bz at 4:44 PM on March 25, 2015

That sort of buffet is easy to find. I would ditch it and find another in better condition that hasn't been painted.
posted by sulaine at 8:09 AM on March 26, 2015

Response by poster: Thanks for the advice and insight everyone. We went ahead and ditched the hutch. As much as I seriously enjoyed that piece, I enjoy my children's health more.
posted by MayNicholas at 7:14 PM on March 28, 2015 [2 favorites]