Lead paint removal

[marta.sosnowskaconra]

Hi,

I am trying to assess a situation at my home.

I decided to renovate a staircase in my Victorian property in London.

When we removed carpet from the stairs we found lead paint on the steps (beautiful red colour and some other white paint over it, but also wood not painted at all). The other wooden areas covered in layers of paint seem to have lead paint underneath as indicated by the swabs of paint chips (cheap Amazon ones).

The staircase is in a lovely shape minus the lead paint.

Now, a few carpenters want to do dry sanding, the painter wants to dry sand the wooden areas with multiple layers of paint to prepare for further painting.

What I find on the internet warns against imminent brain damage to all and environment contamination, no exposure is safe!!! This great danger seems not to be mediated by anything else rather than some strict government guidance with no enforcement regarding the consequences of not applying it.

I do not want to do the chemical peel myself, the carpenter and the painter do not want to do wet sanding - they are telling me that I am crazy asking them to do that.

I could paint to encapsulate but this feels more of a Chernobyl approach, also apparently the existing paint needs to be tested if still ok, if it peels off I should not paint but do the chemical peel.

If I was to do it, apparently I would have to use a hepa 14 filter vacuum which costs £400 to buy and£130 to rent. Plus protective clothing, masks, googles, sealing every bit of the house from the dangerous dust....

I live in a house with an 8 year old.

What to do? It feels trully kafesque

 

[JohnD]

Start by getting it tested.

 

[endecotp]

a few carpenters want to do dry sanding, the painter wants to dry sand the wooden areas with multiple layers of paint to prepare for further painting.

Idiots.

But frankly, it’s mostly them who will breath it in if they use proper extraction while sanding. Still not recommended though.

What I find on the internet warns against imminent brain damage to all and environment contamination, no exposure is safe!!!

Not really, lead is cumulative, the danger is long-term exposure (like your tradesmen will get over their career). For you, maybe if you breath it all in it will make you 1% less smart or something. It’s not like asbestos.

I do not want to do the chemical peel myself

This is a DIY site. Why not do it yourself if you cannot find someone to do it for you?

 

[JohnD]

I knew a builder who got early-onset dementia due to working with lead years ago.

He went from working and runnjng a business, to having to be led around by his wife, in less than three years.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

How do they know lead paint caused that?

 

[JohnD]

Lead test of the brain in hospital, I believe.

It might not have been paint. He had also made wiped lead joints in old plumbing.

Lead is known to damage the nervous system and brain, it most often happens to babies and children who are particularly vulnerable.

The removal of Lead from petrol is considered to have led to the reduction, twenty years later, of crime, especially violent crime.

I suppose because brain damaged people may not behave as well as they might otherwise.

You might be interested to read the news of damage to children still happening near old Welsh lead mines.

 

[opps]

You can "safely" remove lead based paint with a heat gun at 450°c.

I have been decorating for years, I tend to dry sand with my sanders connected to an L class dust extractor (not even a M class with a HEPA). I am not aware of having been harmed by lead. Most the houses that I work in are Victorian. I am not discounting the risks of lead, but, I do think that concerns are often over inflated.

As a child I probably consumed more lead by breathing in car exhaust fumes.

 

[marta.sosnowskaconra]

Thank you all, it is a shame that there is no clear health and safety guidance about this issue and proactive policy about reducing harm, I also love it that in London you will not find a company that will remove lead paint from a residential property, due to insurance considerations - even if it is vacated for the duration of the work, as they cannot ensure that the lead dust would travel into rooms even with all the required measures in place!