What is the most effective non-chemical method for stripping paint from a concrete basement floor?

A floor sander with a coarce grit paper, most rentals stores will help you with this one.What is the most effective non-chemical method for stripping paint from a concrete basement floor?
Jeanbug is 100% correct !!!





(but her dates are a little off) while lead-based paint was banned in the US in 1978 (130 years ago in Germany)(1902 in Queensland OZ) the paint makers here had all but stopped adding lead in the mid 1960's. They had gone to latex.





If your thinking of doing any dry sanding or grinding you should be aware of the following numbers....





1.0 milligram of lead per square centimeter is defined as “Lead-Based Paint.”


It is written as 1.0 mg/cm2





Each milligram contains 1,000 “micrograms” and is written as (ug).





There are 2.54 cm in each inch





So if you have paint that is just 1.0 mg/cm2 and you dry sand only 1 square foot you will have sent 929,000 micrograms of lead into the room.





(my house was built in 1943 and has 9.0 mg/cm2)(so there are about 9 MILLION micrograms per ft2 on my basement floor)





The ';safe dust level'; for children is less than 40 micrograms per ft2.





You can find a small book that helps you with this at





http://www.mindspring.com/~wrltc/LSWP_ne…





It is free as is my advice. I can be reached at plehne@earthlink.comWhat is the most effective non-chemical method for stripping paint from a concrete basement floor?
Yeah, I'm being sarcastic. Water is H2O, that's a chemical compound. No, there is no way to strip paint without paint stripper. Nice try. Get a wooden bristle brush put a handle on it and it goes pretty fast that way.
If you have access to a pressure washer ....... You can purchase special tips that rotate and pulse the water which will blast away most paints. Some people in this line of work call them ';sand blasting tips';. If you have a ';Northern Tool'; store nearby or have their catalog the tip is available starting at around 20 bucks. Useing a pressure washer, you do not subject youself to the harmful dusts from sanding.
Sand blaster or pressure washing
If the paint is old, (pre 1977) you might think about sending a sample out to be analyzed first. Lots of that old paint contained lead and/or mercury which you do not want to be stirring up with dry sanding.
Hiya,





I tracked down a few sites that deal with getting rid of paint.





The first, eHow, suggests either sandpaper or solvents. You apparently don't want to use solvents, so that option's out. Scraping will probably work, but it may mar the floor, so do it carefully (and wear eye protection).





The second site, Paint Center, writes that a wire wheel brush may be the best solution. The site also lists several options for getting rid of the paint chemically, should you change your mind.





So, to sum it up, if you're looking to get rid of just a few drops, you can probably use a wire wheel brush. If it's an entire floor you're looking to strip, you may have no choice but to use a chemical solution.





I suggest visiting a local paint store for further suggestions, especially if you think the paint is lead-based.





good luck,





Mike