Living with Lead

Managing lead removal.

By OHJ Staff

Even if you are not actively restoring the building and the existing painted surfaces are in good condition, many of the working parts of an old house can still pose a potential lead-paint hazard. To manage the lead dust that may occur from day-to-day use, review the red flags on your lead risk assessment, paying particular attention to these areas.

Painted stairs. Because foot traffic on painted stairs knocks paint loose, they can be a source of lead dust. The easiest management optionÑone that usually qualifies as a lead enclosure (a stiff material covering)Ñis carpet. Cheap carpet works just as well as expensive carpet, and rubber tread covers are even cheaper (although less aesthetically pleasing). If you have historic paint on your stairs, such as graining, carpet or covers will save those paint layers until your children are out of danger.

Window pockets. The friction of moving sash can release lead particles because window pockets (the channels where the sashes slide) often contain years of paint. If a risk assessment report identifies your window pockets as a lead source, one option is to install metal jamb liners that will retain the original sash while enclosing the potential hazard. If the windows stick, mist the edges of the sash and remove a fraction of an inch of built-up paint. Later you can remove these tracks and thoroughly strip the jambs and window wells if you like. Also, mist and scrape loose paint from the sills, fill, then paint. (Never dry scrape.) DonÕt rush into a massive stripping job; you might destroy important color information in your haste.

Friction on doors. Where a door binds, paint will chip off, and making sure doors donÕt stick will net you a big return on the lead front. Seal off the room, then mist and plane down the edges of doors. Make sure the door is beveled properly and that the hinges arenÕt pulling loose. The advantage of planing, from a preservation standpoint, is that the doors may very well have historic graining. Planed edges can be easily touched up, and the door can then be varnished, with less impact on the historic fabric of the house.

Paint on walls. In the event a risk assessment report identifies your walls as a lead source, it will probably suggest one of the following options. The covering for a lead-painted surface like brick or damaged plaster is often an enclosure, such as the heavy duty wall liner usually referred to as the Òbridging material.Ó The benefit of enclosure is reversibility: You can strip off the covering later, and you wonÕt contaminate the room by excess sanding or paint prep.

If you should be lucky enough to find your plaster or paint in good shape, you can go over it with an encapsulant (special liquid coating). You might think that a coat of latex or alkyd paint on top of your homeÕs lead paint would do just as good a job, but thatÕs not the way the EPA sees it. Approved encapsulants are typically acrylic coatings that form a stiff barrier. After application you can paint the encapsulant the color of your choice or place a wall liner over it if youÕre going to use wallpaper. An encapsulant prevents lead dust from spreading, but, from the restorerÕs perspective, it can be difficult to remove later. Nonetheless, you should know that these products are available. They might be appropriate for a hallway, below a chair rail (touched by little hands), or for an area where you plan to replaster later.

Lead poisoning is simple to avoid. Awareness and good housekeeping go a long way toward preventing lead paint health problems while still allowing us to work on and live in our prized older homes.

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