Pregnant and Renovating
Hi, I am sure we will be judged by some but we recently moved into a brownstone that we are living and renovating, with my wife now 4 months pregnant. That being said, we are mainly renovating the lower duplex, while we live on the top floor apartment while the work is done. The building is four stories and there is another tenant apartment between us and the parlor. Our contract has put a big dust screen and it seems that dust is clearly making its way up the stairs but has not really creeped into our top floor apartment in a big way. That being said, out of caution, we moved to my parents house for the first two weeks, which will be the demolition. We’re planning to use “green” paints and have asked the contractor to let us know if he plans to do staining or anything else that will generate huge fumes. So to be clear, we are not doing the renovations and we’re living two stories above it. Also, we’re not going to scrape much plaster or lead paint. Mainly we will skim coat over that and repaint. So I hope that minimizes some of the lead exposure. We asked our doctor and she said that lead is very tough to pass to a fetus and the precautions we are taking sound fine. Our contractor and architect also both said we would be fine. Of course, they are interested parties but I do like and trust both of them. Now, I am sure I will get a lot of varying opinions here and the invariable critiques. Still, I would really appreciate people’s thoughts on this situation and the best way to mitigate any risks. Thanks.
