Lead Paint Dust is Really Evil Stuff

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I live in “This Old House”. Almost all of the houses I sell are very old houses. And it follows that mine, and probably yours if it was built before about 1978, has lead paint somewhere under coats of more benign paint or wallpaper.

Why am I thinking about his now?

My house is being torn up for new bathrooms and central air conditioning. During the demo stage, the crew gave me a mask and suggested that I wear it, at least until dust settled and they could vacuum it up.

With each real estate transaction, there is a form required by the Feds that says when you buy a house, you have a 10-day period (that you can waive) to get a lead assessment. Then, there are guys who make a living charging you several hundred dollars to tell you if there is lead paint, at least on the surface.

Hello! I will save you the several hundred dollars. There’s lead paint! Somewhere between the plaster and the top coat of lead-free Benjamin Moore, it’s there! If you’re taking a bathroom or kitchen down to the studs, there will be lead dust in the air. If you are moving walls around, same thing.

So, if I were the Fed in charge of writing lead warnings, this is what I would tell people buying an older home:

It almost certainly has lead. Even if some expert says it doesn’t, assume it does because he’s probably wrong.

When you’re having work done, send your children to camp or to Grandma’s while the work is underway.

If you have pets, the same thing applies. If there isn’t someplace in your house, like a finished basement, for them to hang out, send them to a week at a pet spa, which is cost effective when you consider the cost of vet bills.

If you are pregnant or even of child-bearing age, get out of the house! Go to a human spa until the work on your house is completed – at least the messy part.

Back when I started my real estate career, a cute couple bought my first listing – a lovely renovated 1800′s house off Dupont Circle. Even though it was totally done, they did more. They moved a bunch of walls. It got messy. Then the wife called in tears to say that one of their cats died and that the other was loopy from lead paint brain damage.

Perhaps because I have cats and not children, this made a huge impression.

So Mr. Snowball (shown in the photo), Ms. Mum and Willie the hyper active Labradoodle are all living in the inlaw suite in my basement until the work is finihed. It was hard to get them to wear a face mask, and the cats lick themselves. Hair balls are bad enough, but lead laden hair balls are more than I’d like to deal with.

I’m down there with them.

The cats hate it.

The dog loves it.

I need a vacation.

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