lead paint in my entire house!

[themadness]

i have been in my home for 7 years and found this week that we lead paint in the entire house. windows, doors, trim, and most of the walls. i have done some renovations(small) and we are planning to replace the windows soon. which, btw, is the only reason we found out about it.

the best i can tell there are 3 solutions.
replace
seal and repaint
remove all the paint and repaint

these all seem to pose just much a hazard as leaving it alone. the paint is in bad shape with chips and peeling. in the past few years my immune system has been weak as hell and some health problems have arose, although minor. i think this is from the paint.

what should we do?move?

[Dok]

every old house has lead paint. no way around it. pretty sure its harmless as long as you arent eating it. Your not eating it are you? Unless your willing to buy a new or at least modern house your kind of stuck with it.

[madasheck]

Also, be careful during the removal/scraping process. It's kind of like asbestos: no problem until you start disturbing it and have it floating around in the air. It might be best to consult a professional hazmat specialist, or have someone do it. Either way, avoid touching and breathing it.

[tritonman]

Do not remove the paint/////
Disturbing the lead is the worst thing that you could do.
    Hiring it done is almost cost prohibitive.
 If you do not have little children who will be chewing on it by all means leave it be.  The removal of lead is very expensive to say the very least.  I would not contact anyone who might think to report the lead for sure.

[pac522]

i have been in my home for 7 years and found this week that we lead paint in the entire house. windows, doors, trim, and most of the walls. i have done some renovations(small) and we are planning to replace the windows soon. which, btw, is the only reason we found out about it.

the best i can tell there are 3 solutions.
replace
seal and repaint
remove all the paint and repaint

these all seem to pose just much a hazard as leaving it alone. the paint is in bad shape with chips and peeling. in the past few years my immune system has been weak as hell and some health problems have arose, although minor. i think this is from the paint.

what should we do?move?

Back in my 20s, when I was a Union painter, I was lead paint abatement certified. A product came out that we used, it was called, something- Lock, it was $180 a gallon but no scraping was necessary. All you did was paint on the primer and any peeling or cracked paint just laid back down and resealed it's self and then a Top Coat was applied permanently sealing the lead paint.

Lead paint was a wonderful technology when it first came out. The premise was to use it on exterior projects. The lead particles would keep leaching to the top, leaving a fine powdery dust and when it rained it would wash away, leaving a fresh painted look every time. If you don't use that Lock brand type of paint, lead dust will keep leaching through, no matter how many and what type of paint you put on top. The parts per million tolerance is very low. More than likely you will never suffer the effects, but you wouldn't want to take the chance. And young children, who crawl around the house and put their hands in their mouths are much more susceptible to poisoning.

It was something like this product: http://www.fiberlock.com/lead/index.html

[themadness]

heres my catch. the ENTIRE house was painted with it. walls, window seals, every interior door, etc. we would basically be painting from floor to ceiling twice. i havent eaten any myself but it does look yummy we have a four year old which is scary and have done several small project unknowingly stirring it up. all the paint is cracked and chipped.

the previous family sold it to us really cheap which was thought was awesome then. shortly there after we found out their 10 year old had a brain tumor. i'm assuming the paint may be to blame. i'm kinda freaking out at this point because of some small issues we've had and the duration of time we have been here.

if we sell this house what do we do as far as inspections and liability issues? would we be responsible selling a house with lead paint in it?

some of the contractors here are hesitant to work on it.

[spinner]

I will definitely agree with tritonman. I'm saying this nicely but in quotes ( SHUT YOUR MOUTH )!!! When I was younger my dad went to remodel the living room, so he thought he was doing the right thing and pulled permits and called the inspector. The inspector cam looked around and left, never said nuttin. 2 days later the police, guy's w/ white suits, the fire dept. were all there to quarantine the house and kick us out and tape it off. The neighbors must of thought my dad was a mass murderer. Come to find out the inspector " SUSPECTED " and took samples of paint which he thought might be lead and a fiber the was used for insulation to be asbestos. I spent 2 weeks for the test to come back wearing my little cousins cloths to school cause we could not remove anything from the house , NOT FUN. When the test came back they gave us the all clear, told us we could go back and offered no apology. This was in the mid to late 70's I can't imagine what it would cost or what they would do now. Probably just burn your house down. To be serious though I've worked in the construction buiss. and unless u have a lot of money just paint over it. You can walk by those windows for the next 1,000 years and it won't hurt you. Don't sand um just paint them.

[spinner]

There's a bunh of link's out there but I grabbed you 1. I don't like it because of where it comes from but it's pretty much right on   www.health.ny.gov/environmental/​lead/exposure/childhood/​leadq.htm

[pac522]

To be serious though I've worked in the construction buiss. and unless u have a lot of money just paint over it. You can walk by those windows for the next 1,000 years and it won't hurt you. Don't sand um just paint them.

This is absolutely false. Lead particles are so small they leach through any paint you put over them, except the kind that was formulated for encapsulation.

some of the contractors here are hesitant to work on it.

I'm sure that the cost of this paint has come down since it was first patented, at $180 a gallon. Find yourself a reputable contractor and have the work done with the Lock paint. You won't be able to sell your home, unless you disclose that it has lead paint. In which it either won't sell, or sell for considerably less. The price it's worth minus the cost of encapsulating the paint.

If the government finds out you have lead paint outside they will require you to dig three feet out and three feet down and get rid of the contaminated soil. They may also test your neighbor's soil and have you do the same for them, at your expense.

Lead accumulates in the brain and causes permanent brain damage in young, developing brains. You need to make a decision and fast.

[spinner]

Hey pac522, I'm not a scientist but... If in your scenario is right he should just turn himself in an get it done with.  "  You won't be able to sell your home, unless you disclose that it has lead paint.  " Unless I'm wrong no one disclose it to him when he bought the house.  Use  (  encapsulating paint  ) No problem w/ that. "  If the government finds out  " I don't have enough time to touch that sentence. The Govn't and gas Co. put lead in our cars for years if  "  This is absolutely false. Lead particles are so small they leach through any paint you put over them  " , if this is the case cause paint just sits there.  We should all be dead!!! Every person for as long as lead has been in gas stands there and pumps it. fumes to me seem a lot worse than paint on a wall . There should be no 1 left on the planet except people who never came in contact with gas. Or Oh, know pencils I chewed growing up that wern't graphite? I'm not saying lead is good for you but....

[kerrymti]

In Alabama, any real estate agent's sales contract specifically asks if you are aware of lead-based paint in the house.  If you are 'aware' of it, and don't disclose it, you are in big trouble.  Unless you sale it without the assistance of a real estate agent and use a home-made contract that states the house is sold "as is".

[spinner]

We all know bureaucracy. My father in law got a divorce, bought a house to move into to get away, went to sell it (1 year later) and the inspector told him he had to remove the oil tank that was no longer in use in the basement ( he bought it that way ) cause now he has gas , big $$$$$. Then they told him the whole bottom half of the house was infested/ or old termite damage that took years to happen. and some of it was not safe big $$$$. Ever try to sue the guy who does the inspection on your house, read the contract!!! 

[pac522]

Lead particles are so small they leach through any paint you put over them  " , if this is the case cause paint just sits there.  We should all be dead!!! Every person for as long as lead has been in gas stands there and pumps it. fumes to me seem a lot worse than paint on a wall . There should be no 1 left on the planet except people who never came in contact with gas. Or Oh, know pencils I chewed growing up that wern't graphite? I'm not saying lead is good for you but....

I don't know what to tell you, but this is what the course in lead abatement told us when we had to get certified each year and it was the selling point when lead was in paint. The particles leach to form a powdery coating on the surface. And who said we'd all have to die. I said the biggest problem with lead is with still developing children, born and unborn. Yes they used to put lead in gas but the vapors are far more harmful to adults then the lead dust.

They still smelt lead on jobsites though, to seat toilet flanges on to old cast iron pipe. Besides being a Union painter I held to General contractor's licenses, in commercial and industrial. So I speak from experience here. And no it won't kill us, but it may make us insane.

Like I said, lead bio-accumulates in the brain. It's the reason all the Emperors of Rome were insane, their plates and cups were made out of lead for the longest time.

Also you talk about contractual law and not being able to sue your home inspector but don't know that your supposed to disclose things you know about? And a word of advice, always hire an outside, independent from the mortgage company, home inspector.

It may cost you a little more but can save your ass in the long run. Also make the seller take out insurance for you for the first year, encase things start falling apart the year after you move in and unless the insurance states it, it may even cover the lead abatement.

[Jordan]

Could be worse - you could have  Fukushima plumbing.

[sentinelscout]

Yikes, I mean its not really easy to avoid.

If you plan on removing all of it make sure to wear a good quality respirator (especially if you doit yourself), don't cheap out on the respirator !!! get a good one with replaceable filter cartridges.

Lead is easy to blast into a dust form (especially if you are sanding/blasting it off surfaces).

Make sure during removal to keep children and infants away from the dust/dusty clothes.


Removing the paint shouldn't be that hard (especially if its old/starting to chip).
Personally I would grab a suite/respirator and a pressure blaster of some kind . . . . crank open the windows and get one of those room air filters for construction sites (its like a giant hepa filter for work dust... will suck up all the dust in the air ... like saw dust etc.)


If you have an infant or an baby on the way, I would go the extra mile and prep atleast their room prior to him/her sleeping there... babys like to eat stuff, we wouldn't want Jr. eating lead flavored potato chips.



This is one of those grey areas , I wouldn't really report it if you own the house... it could cause you problems down the road.... "hey come buy this house!!! btw its made of lead and asbestos!!!"
XD


Seriously this is an easy fix though if you don't have too many family members living with you (move everything out of the room , seal the doors with duct tape, open the window and get to work/goggles respirator/shower).

Throw the lead paint away in a black bag with the regular trash or look for an open rubble container somewhere nearby.


I wouldn't go as far as removing plaster (cause well theres no telling what the old plaster is made of ... asbestos?).


I have renovated homes etc... its a pain, you never know what people back then put in there... I have seen homes where the entire house was insulated with old newspapers !!! the walls!!! the ceilings!!! it was a freaking mess!!! one time I even found a dead cat in the attic.... mummified, well atleast I think it was a cat.


If the house has plaster walls (it probably does if its lead paint), I would chip a small piece off and have it tested for asbestos somehow (you can kinda tell urself if it looks like it has white metalic fibers in it or if it has small flakes in it... kinda hard to explain).

If the plaster has asbestos DONT TOUCH IT....  DONT REPORT IT it would probably be cheaper for you to buy a new house than to remove it all from the entire house.

[sentinelscout]

Your easiest solution would probably be to chip off the loose bits / light scrape it off as best you can and wallpaper over it... IMO... but I hate wallpaper... so ... yea GL with that.

[donnay]

What if the lead paint wasn't poisonous and they just said it because it interferes with their snooping police state?

Lead keeps out radiation and microwaves...

Just a thought?

[tritonman]

Good point Donnay,  He could sell it for more money instead of less if he targeted the right crowd of buyers.

[Satyagraha]

What if the lead paint wasn't poisonous and they just said it because it interferes with their snooping police state?

Lead keeps out radiation and microwaves...

Just a thought?

Interesting Donnay... hmm.

[donnay]

Interesting Donnay... hmm.

Although the below article is not about lead based paint, one has to wonder if lead based paint could protect you from being irradiated or microwaved?  We know these bastards have continuously lied to us other the years.  What the hell do they care if the lead paint in your house made you sick?  The bastards want you dead anyway.

Special Paint Can Keep Your Wi-Fi Private

[pac522]

Although the below article is not about lead based paint, one has to wonder if lead based paint could protect you from being irradiated or microwaved?  We know these bastards have continuously lied to us other the years.  What the hell do they care if the lead paint in your house made you sick?  The bastards want you dead anyway.

Special Paint Can Keep Your Wi-Fi Private

Again, it's not going to kill you, it's going to make you sick, or give you brain damage, in young children especially. Adults are hardly effected. When mothers found out they created and pushed the movement to pass legislation, with the help of ambulance chasing lawyers. Every once and a wile less evil triumphs over more evil.