Discussion on Lead Paint and Options?
bania4ovaltine
3 years ago
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kathyg_in_mi
3 years agoRelated Discussions
Lead paint inside kitchen cabinets
Comments (29)If lead paint was 10% as awful as the EPA proclaims, we baby boomers would be sitting in a corner somewhere babbling nonsensically to ourselves and drooling out the right side of our mouth. It's not that grave a threat. And I have *had* lead poisoning, albeit a minor case, about 30 years ago. And it was my own stupidity that brought it on. In 1980, I restored an old 1913 duplex and spent DAYS sanding several miles of millwork and trim that hadn't been painted since the 1950s. The air was so think with dust you couldn't see across the room. Admittedly, that was stupid. The most memorable part of the event was the next few days I could NOT get rid of this weird taste in my mouth. But I was in my late 20s, and otherwise healthy and I took a break from the work, and the next time I sanded old baseboards, I wore a face mask. Problem solved. Back to the "hazards" of lead paint. Let me tell you about my friend, "Rick," who had an early 1900s apartment building. It was the cheapest rent in town and the house was not in bad shape, but it had never been "modernized." One day, some low-rent people moved into his low-rent place and the little kid was found to have lead poisoning. Inspectors found lead paint on the woodwork, including window sills. Rick moved the low-rent people into another property (with no lead paint), and absorbed the expenses of putting people in far nicer place (temporarily) while he rehabbed their place. Rick then spent thousands in abatement. Fine, old, thick, tall moldings were thrown into the dumpster and sent to the landfill. Old wavy-glass windows were tossed and replaced with expensive new double-glazed, vinyl windows. The old house was stripped of all its character and charm. And Rick was out a whole lot of money. He moved the low-rent people back into his not-so-low-rent property (same rent, so as to not run afoul of the scary bureaucrats), and at specified intervals, the child's blood was checked again and again. After a few weeks, the child's lead levels were still elevated. More inspectors came back to the rental house and double-checked Rick's work again! How could this be? It must be the crappy old house!! AFter a few such visits, the real culprit was found. The family was using an old painted crib. Said child was nibbling on the crib. The crib had been painted many years prior with lead-based paint. Woopsie! said the EPA. Meanwhile, Rick had spent a small fortune, and another old house had been decimated for no reason whatsoever. And - after those people moved out - he raised the rent on his newly renovated rental house. Oopsie, there goes another low-income rental. Now, how many times has this happened across our great country? Probably millions. BTW, I'm a mother of three girls. I'm all about "saving children," and I think our energies and dollars and time should be spent on doing some *constructive* to save children, rather than investing millions of dollars on politically correct causes that - really and truly - are one of the smallest potential threats that our children face today. Rose...See MorePaint scraping tool and lead paint
Comments (21)I've have a silent paint remover and have used it inside and out. Done a lot of trim and doors inside. Done three sides of house outside. One more to go! :) Get and use the scrapers they sell. You don't need any of the fancy ones. Just the plain ol triangular ones. They sell replacement blades for them very cheap, especially if you buy a five pack. I really can't tell you how much better these scrapers work. Keep the blades on the scraper sharp. Very important. I found a sharp blade would last about a days worth of scraping. When the paint literally bubbles off, that's and oil based and will come off the easiest. When is kind of burns off, that's latex. SPR will handle both. I didn't find is useful for detail work, tight corners (like stairs) or windows. To hard to put the heat where you want it and keep it from where you've already stripped. It works great on claps. Contrary to what they say, hit the claps with a random orbital sander using 36 or 40 grit after stripping. A light hand sanding ain't gonna cut it. Not at least on my 200 year old home with every type of paint ever invented. Then prime, then two coats of paint. No need to pressure wash. Oh, they have some tip on their website, for dried out areas, to apply some linseed oil to it a few days ahead of time. Doesn't work. I tried it. Made a big mess. Google search will confirm my results. Also, forget the linseed oil on the claps after priming. Unless you want you claps to be covered with black mold in a few months. To speed things along you MAY consider shortening the fins that keep the SPR off the claps. Stripping paint is hard work. For claps it doesn't require a lot of know how. Just grunt work. You might consider outsourcing this to some day labor. You'd be suprprised how much progress two people can make in day. Here's a good reviews... http://www.houseinprogress.net/archives/000108.html http://www.hereandthere.org/oldhouse/removing-exterior-paint.htm...See MoreLead Paint and Pregnant Wife in Old House
Comments (28)so, lead. it is toxic and we all know it is toxic and has long-term effects. there is no arguing about that. the most typical pathway is ingestion. generally, i am relatively unconcerned about adults living in a house with lead paint. adults don't eat off the floor or chew windowsills. they do, perhaps, pick up some object off the floor and then eat without washing their hands first. also, if there is a garden close to your house, where chips would fall in it. but, adults are big and developed and this amount of exposure typically isn't such a big deal. Science has shown us that low-levels of lead exposure in pregnant women that wouldn't be a big deal otherwise can cause some neurological defects. Nothing obvious like a third arm, but something less obvious like a learning problem later in life. Or maybe the IQ is 125 instead of 130. But, as adults, if we are aware of a potential risk we can avoid that risk. A pregnant woman living in a house with lead paint chips or lead paint on contact surfaces (door jambs, etc) should wash her hands frequently, particularly before eating. Vacuum more frequently than usual and frequently vacuum around window sills and doors. If you exercise some caution, I don't see any reason to replace the windows and trim because you have a pregnant person in the house. But by the time that baby becomes mobile, you do want to make sure that the lead issue has been taken care of. How you do this is up to you. You can have the windows replaced by a reputable contractor that follows lead-safe practices (this basically means they use a bunch of plastic sheeting) or you can start with the worst offenders and fix them yourself. If you do this, you want to make sure your work area is isolated and that you aren't making things worse by tracking paint chips and lead dust around. I'm really not going to get into how to do the work yourself, but focus on the doors and windows you use the most....See MoreDiscuss painting options / application for welded steel util trailer
Comments (1)Hi Harry, do you have some photos so we can help you with it? Thanks!...See Morebania4ovaltine
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