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Vegetable Gardening

Using an old swing set frame for cucs next year?

14 years ago

I'm thinking our old swing set would make a fantastic frame for cucs next year. Maybe I'd put cattle panels against it for the cucs to climb up, or nylon mesh netting. The swing set is about 20 years old. It still has most of its red paint on it. How would I figure out if it had lead in it at all? Any other reason not to use it?

Any ideas?

Thanks.

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Comments (5)

boothc9
14 years ago
Is it metal or wood? I'd say just sand off the paint anyways just to be safe. Even if there's no lead, you still wouldn't want to eat anything paint is made of.
catherinet
Original Author
14 years ago
Its metal. I suppose I could use some sort of power sander to get that paint off. Its a pretty big swingset and would take a long time by hand. But that's a good idea. Thanks!
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naturegirl_2007 5B SW Michigan
14 years ago
Lead paint was banned for residential use in the US in 1978 and phased out of use in many other areas soon afterwards. I don't know for sure if that would affect outdoor swing sets but I doubt a 20 year old set would have lead paint on it. Power sanding is not a good idea either way. If there is anything harmful in the paint it would end up in your soil and be much more available to the plants than if it were on the swing set. Plants aren't going to be absorbing chemicals from intact paint through above ground parts.

Just a bit of info about working with lead paint....mostly you don't want to have paint dust swirling about.

Info from Wikipedia: "Working in a lead-safe manner means avoiding dry sanding, dry scraping, removing paint by torching/burning, the use of heat guns over 1100 Â°F, machine-sanding or grinding without HEPA filtered dust collection or HEPA-filtered vacuum. These methods are now prohibited by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) because they have been proven to create significant levels of lead dust during remodeling, renovation and painting. They must be avoided, especially in properties where children under age six reside. Adult workers using unsafe work practices or improper protective gear may also become lead-poisoned.

I would use the swing set as is. It could be rigged up to be a great trellis.
tomatoobsession
14 years ago
Personally, I would prime it and paint it without scraping or sanding.
catherinet
Original Author
14 years ago
Its back behind the barn right now. I had forgotten what it actually looked like, but took a look last night, and it has far less paint on it than I remembered.

The legs are plain metal with a few little painted stripes on them.....but that paint is fading and not chipping at all.
The only thing that's really painted is the top cross bar, and its rusting, but not chipping.
Its a pretty big swing set. I think what I might do is straddle it across the chicken wire fence, so only one side of it is actually in the garden. With netting across it or cattle panels, it will be perfect for cucumbers. And its at a great height and incline for easily reaching.

I just hope the cucs grow as good next year as they did this year. I've never had much luck with trellising cucs, but this year they went crazy growing over some tomato cages, so I'm hopeful they'll have fun on the swing set too.
And with the incline of the side of the swingset, they should be easy to find and pick.

Thanks for your input!

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