How to paint over flaky lead paint

paintingrepainting

I have an old shed which has timber beams that have lead paint on them. The paint is flaking and I want to fix it up. The shed is going to be knocked down in about 5 years, so I don't need a permanent solution, just a temporary one, and I don't really care what the end result looks like as these are internal beams.

Does anyone have any advice on the best method to paint over these beams?

Best Answer

You can't paint over flaking paint. Doing so only adheres the new pait to the old paint, and since the old paint is flaking, so will your new paint.

You need to remove the flaking paint. Scraping is likely best, along with the appropriate safety gear (Lead approved face masks, lead approved filters for the shop vac, etc.)

If it's only going to stand for another 5 years, though, I'm not sure I'd worry about it too much--unless you have children playing in there.