While it is true that the EPA RRP Rule does not apply to homeowners working on their own home, there are still the health problems associated with lead poisoning for you and your family. There is also the problem when you go to sell your home, one of the documents you have to fill out as a seller is a lead disclosure form. I'm not a Realtor but I've been told by many Realtors that it's very difficult to sell a home that has been renovated, repaired, or painted without following the EPA RRP Rule. Another option on the covering is to lathe and stucco the house. My own house had lead paint on two sides. It also had very little insulation so we opted to place 2" foam board on the house, lathe and stucco. The lead paint is behind all of that so will only present a problem if someone decides to add a window or door!

I feel your pain. I posted about this on another board and will include a link to the answers. The short version is lots of people are raising young kids in old houses without bad things happening. I have a 4 1/2 year old boy and twin 4 1/2 month old girls. We are closing on a ~70 year old house tomorrow. (I think it may actually be older, we'll see) I bounce between thinking "It's going to be OK" and "Oh my god what the heck is wrong with me, putting my own selfish desires to live in an old house above my children's health?" But we're closing TOMORROW and my husband would seriously kick my butt if I said I wanted to walk out now. (OK not seriously but there would be strong words...) My biggest worry is actually asbestos and come hell or high water - that's getting treated. I have gotten a lot of different opinions on it but I want it out. It's a small amount so hopefully having it done by the experts won't be too much. (It's one or two pipes, 2 feet long or so... mostly in good repair but one of the metal clamps has come off and there's fuzzy stuff under it). As for the lead - like lindac said, any house older than 30 years probably has lead paint. If the paint is in good repair you're in pretty good shape. I can't say much about the outside stuff... luckily our house is brick with a bitty bit of alluminum siding up high so that's not a huge issue for us - but nevertheless I intend to have the soil tested. We want to have a garden and I want to make sure I'm not giving my babies lead in their veggies. (You remember a couple years ago there was the spinach/e coli thing? Some 2 year old died because his mom fed him spinach smoothies. I want to make sure my kids aren't better off eating no veggies than veggies we grow!) So that's one thing I intend to do. Then we will act accordingly. As worried as I am over lead paint - the last place we were living was built in the 50s so probably had some lead paint. We never did any major major renovations but I did have to do a bit of dry wall or plaster repair from my son ramming his trucks into this one corner near the kitchen or the one time he flung a doorknob through our bedroom wall. Probably kicked up a little dust but no one was any worse for the wear (and our landlord never knew about the damage so go me!) My husband and I also took it upon ourselves to replace a window when our neighbor's kid threw a golf ball through it. Old, old single pane aluminum frame windows. Halfway through chipping out all that old putty, I said, "Hmmm, I wonder if there's lead in here?" and DH took over the job as we were trying to get pregnant at the time (I pointed out to him that him having lead poisoning wouldn't help, either, but oh well) Was there lead? Maybe, maybe not... but it was messy as anything, I did not know about proper lead clean up precautions afterwards, and again no one is any worse for the wear. I did get pregnant soon after that and as far as we can tell the babies are fine. My son has never been tested but he shows no signs that he should be. So... I'm hoping it will all be OK. I am going to ask our pediatrician if she'd be OK with periodic lead testing, especially if/when we plan to do any major work. (supposedly it's just a finger stick now) The biggest thing we have in mind is removing a chimney so I plan to keep the kids out of the house while that is done. Also hope to keep the mess as contained as possible and clean up well before we all move back in. I'm hoping it will be OK. I'm a little scared but then I think live in Pittsburgh which is a great place to live if you like old old houses - and so many of my friends growing up lived in really old houses - and I never personally knew anyone who had problems with lead. So while it's scary... I think you also have to take the fear with a grain of salt. It will *probably* be just fine. There are all kinds or precautions you can take from handwashing after you play in the dirt to using the right stripping techniques if you do work on painted areas - these things should help a lot. That's what I am hoping anyway!

Thanks for the advice Faron79, but you didn't read my original post very carefully.. It says that the primer had been sitting for two weeks. It was actually 17 days. I rounded to two weeks. I'm not sure how you read that it was one week. I never wrote that. So too little drying time probably isn't the problem, nor is the lack of "delicate use" tape. Also, I never said I didn't want to sand or was "allergic" to it. I asked why it was necessary on a flat finish. I am trying to learn about the process not objecting to doing it. Also, upon closer examination of the problem, the tape is pulling off the single coat of primer PLUS the top coat of paint beneath it, leaving a very clean door underneath with what looks like a fresh coat of paint. I'm not sure what this means. If anyone wants to offer additional help that would be appreciated. To recap: Primer was left in place for 2 weeks (actually 17 days) Tape was left in place for about 30 seconds Pulling the tape off removed the single coat of primer plus the top coat of underlying paint I didn't paint the original door, or even own the house when it was painted, so I'm not sure what I am painting over I don't mind sanding or doing other work. It's possible that I did not sufficiently clean the door before applying primer. I applied the same primer to another metal interior door and it stuck with no problem, also after waiting for 17 days for it to dry -- the same length of time as the first door. This door was also cleaned by the same method and at the same time as the problematic door.

Best bet is to try to match what you have if you like it. If it’s peeling you can grab a big enough piece and take it to the paint store and they will match it for you. I use Sherwin Williams most of the time (I get a discount and they are good to work with). Benjamin Moore has good products too. Behr rates high in consumer reports, but I have qualms about expertise in a big box store. Yours may be fine. White looks even whiter outside, so my inclination is to lean into creams or pale gray or beige.