Lead Abatement and Removal
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Lead Abatement and Removal
April 2009
I am looking for a handyperson for small odd jobs. Can anyone
recommend someone who is careful to control the lead dust?
careful consumer
You are going to want to use somebody that carries a state Certification as a Lead
Abatement Supervisor or Project Monitor. I had great luck with Thousand Oaks
Painting. My house had a ton of lead peeling all over it, Thousand Oaks came in and
they were very professional. I really can't say enough about the service they provide.
It
is a family owned and operated company, everyone there was either born or raised in
Berkeley/Albany. No Home Depot Joe's. Contact (510) 410-6806 and talk to Bruce,
Roland or Mark. You won't be sorry.
Be Lead Safe
Oct 2008
I have a house built in 1910 and thus that many years of lead
based paint. I was wondering if anyone has used the chemical/eco
friendly base paint removal system to remove the paint from the
trim (RemovAll, Smart strip...)? Did any of these really work? I
cannot keep painting over and I have small kids in the house.
Thus, I really need paint out of the house and stop chipping. I
will have to do this myself since we do not have the funds to
have someone else do the painting. Worried Parent
I used 3M Safest Stripper several years ago and had great
success. You need alot of rags or paper towels to clean it off
and you will likely repeat the process two or three times if you
are trying to restore the wood underneath. It strips many layers
at once, I just followed the directions on the carton. Remember
not to sand or scrape any of it while it is dry, and to dispose
of the paper towels/rags as hazardous material.
Sue
In our previous house we had some areas with lead paint. I did
a lot web research, and thru Alameda County there was a program
where they'd give Alameda residents a lead removal kit and info
on how to do it yourself. I don't know if the kits are still
available (I got mine at thru the Osh Hardware on Ashby), but
the same information on how to remove lead paint that was in
the kit was on line. The kit had: a disposable coverall,
disposable mask, scraper, a spray bottle, and this liquid to
dilute in the spray bottle (to spray on the lead paint areas to
minimize dust as you scraped). They said to rent a vacum with a
HEPA filter (we got one from some industrial rental company on
MacCarther, found it in the phone book). The kit said to wear
the coverall and mask, and scrape off as much of the flaking
lead paint as you could, spraying the area as you went to
stabalize any dust, then vacumming everything up with the HEPA
vac. Then when all loose material was scraped off, to prime the
area then paint over it. That was it. Very simple. If you are
painting over lead paint and it is still flaking up, then you
may be using the wrong type of paint. For example, if you are
painting latex on top of an older oil based paint, then it
won't stick.
another broke homeowner
We bought a UV heat element that fuses multiple layers of paint together so
they can be scraped off in one piece. It is about shoebox size and costs about
$500. Replacement elements cost $100 and I did break one. We stripped the
exterior of our old house down to redwood. It does not work very well on single layers. If you leave it
on the paint for long enough (30secs to 1min) it willl usually separate easily from underlying
wood, though ease of removal varies and seems to depend on the condition of the wood/how it was treated
prior to
painting/how much sun/water exposure it has had. The chunks of paint are collected on heavy plastic drop
cloths and
discarded as hazardous waste. We used this in conjunction with a heat gun for smaller areas. We bought a
variety of good
quality scrapers from the hardware store and have used them all.
It is a long process though not unpleasant if you have the time. Don't try to use just a ladder as you
need traction to do
heavy scraping. If you cannot stand on the ground you'll need scaffolding. Wear reflective safety glasses
and the mask
that makes you look like a fly and scares the littler kids in the neighborhood (don't turn around when a
stroller passes).
Kathy
March 2008
We rent an apartment that has lead paint on the windows, which
are in disrepair. Our landlord hasn't been helpful and we need to
figure out what to do. The first step seems to be getting an EPA
certified lead paint assessor. Can anyone recommend someone?
start by calling the alameda county lead poisoning prevention
program. they provide a wide array of services free. as a renter
though, you may need your owner to make the official request.
they can refer you to inspectors if need be. but definitely call
them first. 567-8282
public health employee
Sept 2006
We have a 75 year old very small stucco bungalow with wood trim
in need of painting. The issue is that underneath the current
paint on the trim is a layer of lead paint (or part of a
layer--house was sanded at that time, I think, about 12 years
ago). I know there are all sorts of recommendations about not
sanding lead paint but I see homeowners and painters alike
working on similar houses all over our neighborhood who seem to
sand with abandon. How can we safely repaint while minimizing
lead exposure to our two youngsters and also not spend an arm and
a leg but still do a decent job repainting (which everyone tells
me involves sanding!)?
anonymous
I do think your concerns are very valid. We just re-painted the
exterior of our house (built in 1940), and my husband scraped
the whole thing, and carefully contained the scrapings. He had
heard of someone's dog getting very sick from the lead based
paints. It's a lot more tedious, but a lot safer.
anon
March 2007
Help! We need to paint our house, inside and out, this year.
We're looking for someone who is going to be very conscientious
about lead abatement. The people mentioned in the archives are
popular and busy, we've called multiple times and haven't heard
back. We need some new people to call.
Syndallas
I strongly recommend MB Jessee painting. The owner, Matt Jessee has been a
painter
since he was a kid. His company has worked largely in Piedmont and Montclair.
This
is a company that is very serious about delivering a top quality service, and
really
taking care of its customers. You will not find a company with more
integrity. They
have an account manager who is there to take care of YOU. On the off-chance
that a
problem arises, they fix it immediately. You will not, I repeat NOT get
shoddy work
from these guys, they are all about giving the customer quality and VALUE for
your
money spent. The account manager is Jon - I have his business card - call him
at
(510) 393-8686. I believe that his policy is to return all calls within 24
hours, but
you will probably get a return call the same day, depending upon when you
call.
Looks like they also have a web-site: www.mbjessee.com.
Alesia
May 2004
We are searching for a high-quality painter who follows
strict guidelines from HUD on lead-safe practices. We just
fired our painter mid-job for contaminating our house with
lead dust from heavily sanding the exterior without proper
precautions (resulting in professional cleanup, much
angst, etc.). We are also looking for an incredibly
high-quality result. Any recommendations?
nancy
Call Hans Stahlschmidt for lead safe painting. He is
certified in lead safe paint removal. He and his crew are
prompt, neat and professional. They did a great job on
our house, showed up early, cleaned up every day, and
completed the job a day ahead of schedule. They were
very careful around our plants close to the house as
well, which is not always the case with contractors. Very
high quality work.
S Au
March 2004
We are looking for a good and experienced painter who also
is certified to do lead abatement. We have some outside
window sills and possible inside windows which need
painting and contain lead. We have a 3 year old and don't
want lead dust everywhere. We also have a 2 story house
and a tile roof so we need someone who can deal difficult
to access windows. We'd appreciate a recommendation for a
reasonably priced good house painter who is lead certified
or at least has taken the class in Alameda County.
Try Stahlschmidt Painting and Restoration. He was
recommended by our general contractor, since we, too,
wanted someone certified in working with old lead paint.
We were very happy with the outcome.
He did a GREAT job finding just the colors we wanted, and
his crew was very professional. They prepped well,
painted, and cleaned up afterwards. Where one minor spot
did not take well, they came back and fixed it without any
questions. It's been a couple of years now, and it still
looks like new.
I don't know what they charge, since we just paid our
general contractor for a large project; he subbed out the
exterior painting.
Satisfied customer
2001
Hans Stahlschmidt is a Berkeley painter (510-848-4040) who really does know about the
safe way to
remove paint. Others may claim to but I've yet to see any painter take the care Hans
did. Here's what Hans did for our house: machine sanders had HEPA filters, hand
sanding was done with TSP spray (binds with lead and keeps dust down), plastic put on
ground each day during prep work and carefully rolled up and disposed of, plastic
curtains put between us and neighbors, windows sealed with plastic OUTSIDE AND
INSIDE and vacuums with HEPA filters used to clean windows after removing plastic.
His workers also wore the right kind of filters, etc. He's got a great sense of color, is very
professional, clean & thorough. Two years later he did touch up work for free. He's very
expensive but it was worth every penny to not have our property contaminated with
lead paint chips or lead paint dust.
-- Brenda
(AND he also has sponsored a softball team in the Albany-Berkeley Girls Softball
League! - Nancy)
Another approach to removing porch paint is to rent a
high pressure washer and blast it off. I was going to
do that, but found thru a free visit from the Alameda
County Lead Abatement Program (567-8280) that it would
be hard to contain the lead. I painted over the ugly
paint. The lead abatement program is a great
resource, for measuring lead in homes, and supplying
information and equipment to take care of
-Shirley
October 1999
Does anyone know of an agency that will come to your home and assess it for
the presence of lead? I live in Albany in a home built in the 1940's and
am concerned about the possibility that old coats of paint containing lead
may leech into soil or eventually become exposed in areas like window sills
that are subject to lots of abrasion. Apparently Berkeley's Health and
Human services used to provide this service but now only provides it to low
income families. I'm not sure where to look now.
Alisa
Alameda County has an excellent lead program. Their number is 510/567-8282.
Lead Paint Evualation: If you are a home owner you can have your home (in and
out) and yard tested for lead paint for FREE. We just had it done it this
very week was very informative. Call Alameda County Lead Poisioning
Prevention Program at 567-8282 for more information. The woman that you want
to speak to Josephina Cornejo...she'll let you know if you qualify.
If you own your own a house that was built before 1978 and you live in Alameda,
Berkeley, Oakland or Emeryville, you are in luck. Your taxes will pay for a full
inspection of your home--inside and out, through the Lead Poisoning Prevention
Program in Oakland. If they find lead during the inspection, they will provide a plan to
help you deal with it. This service, if you paid for it yourself, would run around $900.
Upon your request, they will send you an application for their services as well as a
packet of information. A friend of mine is now dealing with lead poisoning in her 3
year-old. It has had a devastating impact on her child's development, as his hearing,
and thus his speech, have been impacted, and she is now dealing with this along with
other long-term health issues. The worst effects are in children under the age of six, but
lead is a threat to adults as well.
The Lead Poisoning Prevention Program can be reached by calling 567-8282.
Good luck!
Sarah
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