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Lead Paint
RT800
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So I'm thinking about renovating an older home and I'm trying to decide whether or not I want to simply fix it and flip it or actually live there. The house was built in the early 1950's and so one of the major issues I have with it is the presence of lead paint.
As far as I can tell, there isn't any on the interior of the house - but it is all over the outside siding and the window frames, as well as the interior of a screened-in porch. The house is in pretty bad shape and the exterior paint is chipped and peeling badly.
From what I've read, my options are abatement or encapsulation. I'd love to get rid of the lead entirely, but that seems very very expensive.
I'm something of a hypochondriac and the thought of lead contamination worries me. I've had friends tell me that encapsulation is fine - that I worry too much and that I'll be alright as long as I don't start eating the paint. Still...
Anyway I figured it couldn't hurt to ask for opinions from the ether. Anyone have any experience with this sort of thing? Should I go the extra mile and hire a lead-abatement professional to remove all the exterior paint on a ~2000sqft building? Or am I just being overly paranoid?
As far as I can tell, there isn't any on the interior of the house - but it is all over the outside siding and the window frames, as well as the interior of a screened-in porch. The house is in pretty bad shape and the exterior paint is chipped and peeling badly.
From what I've read, my options are abatement or encapsulation. I'd love to get rid of the lead entirely, but that seems very very expensive.
I'm something of a hypochondriac and the thought of lead contamination worries me. I've had friends tell me that encapsulation is fine - that I worry too much and that I'll be alright as long as I don't start eating the paint. Still...
Anyway I figured it couldn't hurt to ask for opinions from the ether. Anyone have any experience with this sort of thing? Should I go the extra mile and hire a lead-abatement professional to remove all the exterior paint on a ~2000sqft building? Or am I just being overly paranoid?
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I'd simply pass. Lead removal is akin to foundation issues. Its a money hole with very little prospect of ending up in the black.
If you have specific information about lead you need to share it with a future buyer. If you just suspect it is lead paint and then treat it like it is lead paint then you just have to give them the pamphlet and the standard language about lead in homes built before 1978.
I'm not a painter, but if it is really peeling bad I think you'd need to take the old paint off first anyhow. You are allowed to abbate it on your own as the homeowner.
How much space is around the property? Cause if it isn't super close to the neighbors you could reasonably abbate it yourself with relatively cheap PPE and a scrapper.
https://www.epa.gov/lead/renovation-repair-and-painting-program-do-it-yourselfers
https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2013-11/documents/steps_0.pdf
My main concern is lead dust. To my mind, disturbing the paint is almost certain to create some and I don't wanna be around to breath it in if it happens. I'm not sure I'd be comfortable doing the abatement myself.
The paint has peeled to such a degree that the bare wood is visible in some locations and there are paint chips on the ground around the property. This makes me worry that there is now also lead in the soil.
I don't know. The more I think about it the more I feel like I oughtta just sell it as-is and wash my hands of the place.
Then again, I don't wanna throw away an opportunity simply because I couldn't help making a mountain out of a mole hill. There's gotta be thousands of lead-painted homes out there that people are perfectly fine livin' in, right?
But you should get lead qualified respirators and lots of plastic sheeting and work your way around one room at a time. Completely isolate the rooms (that means the ducts too).
Grab some hepa filter vacuum cleaners to get the dust off you.
If it's just paint on walls siding, replace it/tear it down (or paint over it if you want), vacuum yourself off, and try to keep as much of the dust in the room outside as possible. If it's fixtures/wood, wet scraping works well.
You can live in it just fine, but places where the paint rubs off (like around doors) still creates dust, and lead paint chips very easily so pets and children are at high risk of consuming it. It's really not a super big deal (versus like asbestos), a lot of areas offer some grants or rebates for getting rid of the lead too.
E: some changes for it being outside instead of inside
Here's a video that will help.
My first job out of college was actually preparing the samples for lead testing - all of the above tallies with what I know about how to get rid of lead.
If it's not actively being disturbed - like, even if it's caught on one of the wipes I'd prep - lead's fairly harmless to adults in the long run unless you go out of your way to ingest it, as others are saying, though lead dust is a legitimate worry. Your body does eventually eliminate it, as well, but it takes quite a while.
And yes, there's probably lead in the soil if it's flaked off and sat there a while. zepherin's right, so far as I know, that it's simpler to encapsulate it or cover it with vinyl siding; neither solution is 100% permanent but they'll last a while, depending on climate and upkeep.
The main thing to avoid lead dust is that you need to work wet. A scraper, protective mask, goggles, fully covering clothing (wash separately) and a water spray bottle. Spray it down before you scrape.
Combining that with chemical paint stripping if necessary and you should get rid of it all.
Also, plastic up everything below so that the stripped paint can be easily collected. Vacuum before and after work.
-Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden
Electrician said he thought there might be asbestos in the wiring.
I mean that's not confirmed but, ah... gonna go ahead and get rid of that too.
God, why did they have to build old houses out of poison and death?
I think enough has been recommended already about the lead paint processing so I won't contribute to that.
A house built before the 80s itself, if it wasn't renovated recently, is likely to have something in it that's asbestos.
I would strongly recommend proceeding under the assumption that you'll be selling it immediately, even if you don't plan to, or you're on the fence. This will let you objectively see if the repair work is worth it. The known problems are all expensive, and you really don't want to get started, then find out that some support beams have rotted or there's mold in the walls or something.
Also, you're about 3 steps away from just tearing the thing down to studs and rebuilding anyway, so I'd at least price out:
1) Your current level of rebuilding.
2) Tearing it down to studs and rebuilding.
3) Tearing it down to the foundation and rebuilding.
4) Selling as-is and just buying a different home.
Again, under the assumption that you'll be selling immediately after completing the work in question.