What to do with lead paint?
artemis78
14 years ago
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brickeyee
14 years agolast modified: 9 years agokudzu9
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Renovating and Lead Paint question...
Comments (45)With adequate ventilation (outdoors is preferred) the methylene chloride (MC) strippers still work better than anything else. I routinely remove trim fr stripping, and cannot remember the last time a piece was damaged by removal. It just takes a lot of patience and gentle prying. If you cover MC stripper with plastic wrap (I use the wider thicker food service grade) it slows evaporation enough to remove MANY layers of finish in a single application. The cheap plastic drywall knives have been a boon (I used to purchase plastic sheets (PVC) and shape them and then drill a hole to use on a cabinet scrapper handle in place of the metal blade). You can even cut them to shape for molding patterns (used more like a scrapper at 90 degrees than a 'knife' at a lower angle). Sawdust is also great for rubbing away softened paint (clay type kitty litter works if you do not have a lot of sawdust). MC is hazardous to folks that may have compromised blood circulation to the heart. It behaves much like carbon monoxide and ties up the ability of heme on your blood to carry oxygen....See MoreOld Houses, Lead and Young Kids - What should we do?
Comments (63)@Laura Hoefer seems like your situation is not as bad as ours in terms of exposure. We didn't know about the windows and my kid's bed was right by them. He got exposed a lot with all the opening and closing. Plus the age doesn't help - he still puts everything in his mouth. If you decide to strip them yourself, I would advise to take a class on lead safety. That being said seems like it's a very complicated process and it might make the situation worse. There are some sealing paints for lead, but you'll still have to scrape the peeling paint off, which is dangerous. I'm going to strip only the 1st floor windows as it gets warmer (they are 8 ft tall so super expensive to replace), but we decided to replace the rest. Restoring is even more expensive if a professional is hired. Have you tried using professional lead cleaning products for lead to mop the floors? Maybe this will help reduce the exposure for your kids. It's all so scary. I'm scared that my kid will be permanently brain-damaged due to all of this :(...See MoreWhat to do with lead paint?
Comments (2)I have painted trim that was shellacked originally; I use a heat gun followed by a chemical stripper, and finish with new shellac. A heat gun at the right temperature setting will take off the paint with a low degree of dust. Then chemical stripping of the residue emits no dust. Other strippers like peelaway 6 or safest stripper or soygel all run into the same problem- the softened paint can get ground back into the wood, and it is dam#ed hard to get the finish as clear as it would have been originally. My heat gun routine frees more lead to clean up later, but I'm going for a perfect looking final finish. TSP cleans lead dust in a most excellent manner. This is some stuff I stripped at my back door. Casey...See More1930's house purchase/reno help?
Comments (14)I have a 1920 house. I can tell you the wishes to add will add up to over 100 if you do it with permits and hire out. Here is the breakdown of our costs over the 15 years we owned our house. Finished the basement ourselves, materials alone were 10k New appliances,sink, lighting bacsplash, added outlets to code and kitchen counters only no gutting or layout changes 16k. 15 years later we are getting quotes on a true remodel these are between 50k and 110k dependant on layout and brands. Adding a master bath above an existing first floor sunroom above 50k New driveway and landscape because upgrading plumbing for bath meant tearing through the drive way 12k Upgraded electric 8k New high effeciancy boiler 10k Adding ac 22k Our new quotes to do the roof are 8k but we only have a single roof layer if there are multiple layers the price is substantially higher. It looks like you need new siding I do not know the cost for that but we paid 4k to tie our new addition siding into our existing. It was an 8×13 foot structure. We will recoup our investments if we were to sell because we have owned long enough to do so and it sounds like you are acquiring this to keep in the family so it may very well be worth doing. However, I find shows showing how to turn a fixer upper into a showcase on budgets smaller than 120k very misleading and dangerous. It would have been much cheaper and quicker to have listed rather than to love it but my location and neighbors are too important to us and the older character is special. But these came at a large cost. Good luck with your restorations....See MoreSaintPFLA
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