Dealing with lead paint
We are looking at possible investment property that was built in the early 1900's and we suspect there is lead paint in the house to some degree. We have not determined the level of severity ;)
I have read most every thread on this matter, but still feel very lost. I spent the entire weekend curled up with J Scott's ebook and a glass of wine, but either he only buys newer houses or I had too much wine because I didn't read the word lead once (or asbestos for that matter, which is a whole 'nother can of worms)
We're in Maryland so I suspect the guidelines are a little stricter here. I'm just not sure how to determine what ballpark we should even be in, from best case (low amounts of lead that we only have to paint over) to worst case (rip out of every inch of drywall while the house is covered in a quarantine tent?)
It's a 2 (well, 3) bed cape cod that is roughly 1100 sq ft, if that helps. My specific questions are:
a - What is the form of measurement for testing used?
b - What are my remediation options likely to be?
c - What ballpark cost / man hours are those options in? Obviously this will vary greatly on my results, I'm just hoping for a best case to worst case figure.
d - Have you ever dealt with lead abatement? What were your results, what did you decide (lead-free? lead-safe? just a disclosure?) and how much did it cost?