Lead abatement
I am interested in hearing whether anyone has had experience (positive or negative) with a lead abatement company. I own a brownstone and have lead in areas and need to abate it quickly. Also, if anyone has had specific problems dealing with the DOH (conflicting, unclear information) I would be interested in hearing form you.
I am interested in hearing whether anyone has had experience (positive or negative) with a lead abatement company. I own a brownstone and have lead in areas and need to abate it quickly. Also, if anyone has had specific problems dealing with the DOH (conflicting, unclear information) I would be interested in hearing form you.
Hi Zora, I read your post regarding lead abatement.
Our company conducts Lead Abatement Services & we specialize in the correction of Lead-Based Paint violations issued by HPD &/or DOH. Call me @ 347-538-4591. Thanks, Angelo.
The quickest qualifying abatement would be encapsulation. If you haven’t looked at this site, I recommend it. It is filled with useful information and links: http://www.nyc.gov/html/hpd/html/homeowners/lead_paint.shtml
Also, HPD offers free classes covering the requirements of lead abatement. See: http://www.nyc.gov/html/hpd/html/buyers/small_prop.shtml
HPD offers a tremendous range of useful classes. When I took the lead abatement class, I was surprised to hear the teacher describe instances where violations were issued to owners and only later was it determined that children in their building were testing with high levels of lead as the result of exposure through imported toys. Lead paint is a given in older buildings. The teacher’s point was not made to diminish the seriousness of lead poisoning or an owner’s responsibility—just to note the possibility of additional contributing factors. You might also want to read the following articles. Although oriented to coop managers, they’re good resources:
http://www.cooperator.com/articles/183/1/Getting-the-Lead-Out/Page1.html
http://www.cooperator.com/articles/1847/1/Avoiding-Toxins-in-Your-Building/Page1.html
The following list is from an HPD brochure covering lead hazards and abatement.
Ways to repair lead paint hazards—
Your landlord can use different ways to fix lead paint hazards. All of the following ways are acceptable:
• Wet-scrape peeling paint, and repaint.
• Enclose the lead painted surface by installing sheetrock or another rigid barrier.
• Remove lead painted components and install new ones (such as replacing a
window).
• Remove lead paint using safe methods.
• Seal lead paint with approved “encapsulants.” Encapsulants are durable, long-lasting coatings used to contain lead paint.
Some repair methods are dangerous and illegal—
Landlords and contractors are not allowed to:
• Dry-sand or dry-scrape lead paint.
• Use a chemical paint remover containing methylene chloride.
• Grind or sand lead paint without using a special vacuum attachment.
• Use a heat gun over 1100° F or an open flame torch on lead paint.
A certified abatement might be costly. However, if the lead is prevalent and deteriorating…hmm..peace of mind=priceless.
Check the brownstoner archives for references for abatement companies. There were several useful threads a few years ago.
Clinton and Obama co-sponsored a bill in 2007 to offer tax credits to homeowners for lead safety measures. It never came up for vote and was cleared from the docket at the end of the year.
If you take gennaro’s advice, be sure not to let anyone dry sand lead paint under any circumstances. Also, sometimes it imay be prudent to encapsulate existing paint if it is not already peeling. There are paints designed specifically to do this–lead eats through standard latex, hence the common scaling and peeling associated with it. Encapsulant should bury non-peeling paint if applied right and may even be the safer option.
Also, check out: http://www.silentpaintremover.com/ Infrared remover, “cold” enough to prevent lead release. It’s expensive but we have one and would be happy to lend it to you (info at housebywe.com). Good luck. It’s a stressful endeavor but you’re on the right track.
A lead abatement company will do the job well and quickly if you pick the right people. But they have high overhead and justifiably have to pass that cost on to you.
I don’t know if you need professional documentation of the abatement but if you don’t another much cheaper option is to hire some workers off craigslist and buy the materials yourself.
Post something like, “worker with lead abatement and removal experience, $15/hr” and you’ll get a hundred qualified responses. You’d get an avalanche of responses for 10/hr since things are so dire right now but I’d do 15.
Is it mostly paint? Home Depot has some good lead paint removal products that are eco friendly. I’ve used most of them and suggest PeelAway. It is a non noxious paste you smear on the paint and the next day you just peel it off like a band aid and wash the surface with soap and water.
I hope this helps.