Ripping up stair carpet- lead paint ?

[SirVixofVixHall]

I am on a mission to do various house things . My stair carpet is worn and needs replacing , I think I would prefer bare stairs. Under the carpet and underlay there is paint. Not in the very centre, but it comes a bit further in than I have seen before. There are multiple layers of paint, and I assume several of them will be lead paint due to the age of my house (1820s ). Will there be lead dust under the carpet, from friction ? Can I rip out the carpet and then hoover and wash the stairs ?
Then what happens about the paint ?

You can buy lead testing kits - chip a bit of the paint off and wipe the test swab on the back. My old house had lead paint under 1001 layers of paint. One was a creamy yellow colour, the other was a pale green and both contained lead.

In terms of safety, you should not sand lead based paints nor should you heat gun them off as the particles then become airborne. The safest way to remove lead paint is chemically and to put all the scrapings and sludge into newspaper. Don’t get Nitromors, they changed the ingredients and now it’s quite useless. Paint Panther is a good one and there are a few products on the professional market that are applied, covered with some sheeting, left to do their magic then peeled away in one satisfying sheet. Hazy memory tells me it’s called Peelaway.

Definitely lead, i used a test kit a few years ago but then just left the carpet in situ .
Peelaway sounds good. !
I am worried that under the carpet there will be a lot of lead dust, but the carpet has to come up, there isn’t another option.

The dust under the carpet is going to be dust from the underlay which dries and crumbles with age. Not great to breathe in but not harmful like lead dust. I’d still pop on a dust mask - can pick them up quite cheaply in practically all DIY shops - and then vacuum the stairs once the carpet and underlay have been removed.

I do have a dust mask. I will be bold them rip up the grim carpet and get some of the peely-offy-stuff.
Will report back on the success of the paint peeling.

Please take care, older paints had asbestos in them, which if disturbed can do catastrophic harm to your lungs. A dust mask won't protect you from it.

I've seen the harm asbestos does. Please seek professional advice before potentially disturbing asbestos.

Asbestos ? I didn’t think normal paint had asbestos? Artex did, I do know that. We had asbestos in an Artex ceiling, oh the joys of old houses…

@CorrBlimeyGG

Please take care, older paints had asbestos in them, which if disturbed can do catastrophic harm to your lungs. A dust mask won't protect you from it.

I've seen the harm asbestos does. Please seek professional advice before potentially disturbing asbestos.

Artex sometimes did. But paint? I've never heard of asbestos in domestic paints. Of course, hoover up ll dust first, and wear a mask if in doubt. Given that you know there is lead anyway, strip with paint stripper- you can get gel types that aren't as environmentally-unfriendly as Nitromors. Do follow the timings on the can/pot. They all work better if you stick to the timings.

Thanks for the helpful advice re timings.
I have a dog, so will need to be very careful I imagine.