Paint Beneath Surrounds - Safety Question

[ERPARKER]

The front bricks of our fireplace have been painted. The bricks in the hearth have not. The surrounds to our Lopi Declaration will, if I understand the installation correctly, be right up against the painted bricks. How hot do these surrounds become? Is there a safety issue? My first concern is that the paint could melt and/or ignite. My second concern is the heat will release lead fumes since our house was built in 1939, well before lead paint was made illegal. The paint itself looks fine so I'm not otherwise inclined to try and remove it.

The dealer doesn't seem to think this is a problem, though I'm probably providing a better description here than I did to him. I'll also double-check with the inspector.

 

[elkimmeg]

Paint especially oil based paint is a very combustiable material Which gives off noxious poisoneous fumes Lead fuems are probably the least of your worries. Is it so hard to Say I don't know and research a subject. It's a shame so much trust is granted to a dealer to tell correct info. You can scrape till dooms day and not get all the paint of. What works best is to have it sand blasted.