Lead Paint, Asbestos & Mold In WA State
Hi All,
I'm buying a property from the early 1900s that needs some rehab. Of course, it has lead paint on the walls and asbestos in the drywall, insulation, floor tiles and nearly everywhere else. How in the world do you rehab these properties with all of the red tape BS out there? I'm getting conflicting stories from the city, the agent, contractors, and the old lady down the street. What in the world do you do? Also, I understand there's a new law as of June 4 or June 10 that impacts landlords. Something about no child under the age of 4 can be in a unit with lead based paint on the walls. HELP!!!! I think I'm losing the last bit of mind I have left.
Thanks,
Brett
Well, you usually choose your battles wisely. A beginner 16 year old judo student might be advised, no matter how promising he seems to be, that it might not be prudent to challenge a Samuri warrior with 30 years of combat experience to a fight to the death.
If you are over your head, you are over your head. Buy a property with less issues and work your way up to one like this.
If it is too late or you are stuborn there is usually two things that will solve any problem with a home - time and money. The less you have of one, the more you need the other one.
Keep talking, researching and reading, break your problems up into smaller more maneagable projects. Try to get a handle on one small part of this project then go on to the next part. Trying to solve everything at once is over whelmign and leads to overload.
There is one guaranteed solution and that is to hire out all the work to contractors who specialize in the problems you have. However, I suspect you will lose money if you did that, but at least start with them and see what they would do. Use that information as part of your education.
The big thing with asbestos and lead, is if they aren't broken, don' fix them.
So, paint over the lead paint, don't strip, sand or remove it.
Similar w/ the asbestos. Asbestos is only harmful when it loose or broken what called friable. If there is some loose, say the tape around some ducting, there are encapsulant which will lock up all the loose fibers.
The big down side of having an asbestos contractor, is people walking around w/ moon-suits, respirators and big signs that say "DANGER ASBESTOS..."
To quantifyand qualify what you're dealing with there are cheap like $6 lead pait test kits and 25-40/sample asbestos tests.
I guess it all depends what you want to rehab.