All Forum Posts by: Derreck Wells

Oh yeah, an encapsulated can only be used on certain surfaces and the existing paint needs to be tested to be sure it's bonded well enough the the wood. There's paperwork that must be completed and filed when encapsulating. I rarely bother, it's faster and cheaper to cover or replace.

@Tim Ryan,  "Flipping" the moulding is legal for a deleader to do, it's called reversal and it's considered a "low risk" method, but cutting the edge with your table saw is considered a "high risk" method since you're creating lead dust when you cut through the paint. However, if you do any of this before you get a lead inspection to try to pass the inspection, it is illegal and considered unauthorized deleading. If you are simply renovating your apartment it is legal, but reversal is obvious deleading, no one does that while renovating. 

Trying to save money on deleading now can cost you a fortune later.

I know of a lady who got sued and she lost the building to the tenant. The tenant now owns the property. Lead lawsuits are no joke. The state of MA has programs where they will finance the project and the owner repays the loan when they sell the house. They offer tax credits, financing, grants, etc. The judges look at it like they gave you plenty of opportunity to address the issue, the State tried to help, if you didn't do it it's your fault.

@Nicole A. while state laws vary the Federal laws do not. EPA regs are here... Federal Lead Laws... but if you hired just anyone, or did the work yourself, then you're at risk of having the same issue as the OP. In MA is called "Unauthorized Deleading" (OP called it "lead affected") and once your house is tagged with UD, you can't get a lead cert. Every state will have a name for it, but basically it's illegal deleading. People that don't know how to handle lead might think that a coating of paint over the lead is good enough. Well, if its a corner or edge that a kid can get its mouth on, its not enough. If its a window or door, its not enough. There are rules and laws that have to be folllowed. A shop vac with a HEPA filter in it isn't enough and if that's what your using, you can get a $32,500 fine. 

People who are thinking of dealing with lead need to read and understand the Federal laws and their State laws. People who have read the laws shouldn't give advice to people who haven't, other then for THEM to go read the laws. If you can't read and understand the laws, then hire a licensed deleader, you're going to anyway. Why would you want to risk the ridiculously high fines we face of we do it wrong?

I'm not a GC, but I am a MA licensed deleader and can definatly help you out with your inevitable lead issues. I just finished one in Worcester.

PM me the address and I'll check if there's ever been a lead inspection there. 

As far as the eviction goes, if the test comes back positive the tenants will be notified and they'll try to use it against you. However, the children have to be tested for elevated lead levels. Those levels will dictate if they have a serious claim against you or not.

MA law states that you cannot rent to a family with children under 7 unless you have a lead cert on file. So basically, since you can't discriminate against families with small children, they made it so any rental property has to have a lead cert on file, so yes, you need to delead the unit to comply with the law, or you need to discriminate and violate the equal housing law. 

Section 8, CTI, and any other state or Fed agency now requires a current lead cert to place a tenant there, so if you ever want that money, you need to do it too.

The state has special financing where they will loan you the money to delead with a deferred payment until you sell the building, so you pay them back out of the money from the sale. The also offer a $1500 per unit tax credit when you delead. They want the units deleaded, so they're trying to make it as easy as possible.

Talk to your lawyer. At this point, your best course of action is probably to get the lead cert. quickly. If the children's lead levels are not elevated, nothing should come from you not already having it. Maybe a small fine if someone wants to be a hard ***. 

On the flip side, he may suggest evicting these tenants as quickly as possible before a lead test can be done and give them something to use against you. I'm not a lawer, so I can't advise you on that. I do know that MA evictions can take 6 months or more, so in that time, these people could feed their kids lead paint chips so they can sue and take your house, so getting the cert quick is probably the way to go.

I can also give you the contact info of a lead inspector I like to work with, he's fair and doesn't try to fail something so he can charge you to come back and reinspect.

Get a job in construction. Learn as much as you can about fixing houses, then when something goes wrong in a property you own, you can either fix it yourself or you will at least have an idea of what it takes to fix so you'll know what to expect to pay someone else to do it.

Not sure of CT's lead laws, but by federal EPA laws, unless she has a child under 7 living there you won't have to remediate the lead (if it exists). However, since you can't discriminate against families, when she moves out, you should address the lead to avoid playing the game of finding people without kids. 

Section 8 now requires a lead certificate on every unit they're paying for. As do most Government funded programs now. 

"We tested our units and only the 1925 house and 1941 house had evidence of lead-based paint, and it was encapsulated under layers of new paint and not a hazard." This is not accurate. Covering lead paint with regular paint is not "encapsulating" the paint. There is a special encapsulating coating for lead (Lead Block, for one), that's more like a liquid rubber, that can be used on certain surfaces only after the surfaces have been tested and the proper paperwork filed (the EPA loves it's paperwork). Painting over lead with regular paint is simply that, painting over the lead paint to "make it intact" and not peeling anymore. However, if there's an outside corner in the room that has lead paint on it, painting over it isn't enough, you need to cover it at least 4" back from the corner. (See picture if you don't know what I mean about an outside corner.) Also, windows/frames and doors/door jambs cannot have lead paint on them, period. Movable surfaces that can rub have to be replaced, you can't paint over the peeling lead and think it's good enough. Basically only flat walls, ceilings, and baseboards can be painted over to cover the peeling lead paint, but you need to take special precautions when scraping the loose paint off. 

Any surface that a child could conceivably get it's mouth around can not be made intact (painted), this includes anything that sticks out more then 1/2 inch like stair treads, railings, balusters, columns, shelves, shelf supports, counters, fireplace mantles, window sills, baseboards, pipes, door/window casings, and pretty much everything else that could stick off your wall. These are the things that could be encapsulated after testing the surface to see if the lead paint is still bonded to the wood well enough to hold the encapsulate. 

With all this being said, go paint her walls, don't be a slumlord. 

MA has separate licenses for roofing, siding, windows, deleading, plumbing, electrical, and just about every other aspect of construction you can think of. On top of that, EVERY contractor is supposed to have a HIC (Home Improvement Contractor) license and be RRP certified. The odds of finding one guy that has all of the licenses are slim to none. 

I'd be more concerned about insurance then licenses. If they're doing work without a license, it's them who could get in trouble. If they're doing work without insurance, it could be you in trouble if someone gets hurt or something gets damaged. 

The end game is no more sick children. There will NEVER be a repeal to the law or a lessening of the law. The laws are only going to get stricter. MA is considering changing the definition of lead poisoning from having a blood level of 10 or above to 5 or above, drastically increasing the statistic of kids with lead poisoning, which in turn would make people want stricter lead laws, which in turn would make the cost of my license and ongoing education go up, which in turn would make my rates go up, etc., etc., etc..

Here's a quick description of some of the terms. This is by no means a complete list of the lead laws, just a quick definition of some of the common terms you hear. 

1. "Covering" is just that; Covering. Putting paneling over it, putting sheetrock on top of the existing sheetrock that has lead paint on it, covering outside corners of walls with wood at least 4" back from the corner, putting new baseboard over old lead painted baseboard, etc.. This is a "low risk" method of deleading as there is no dust created.

2. Painting over the paint is called "making intact". This can only be done on certain surfaces and areas. You can not, for instance, paint a door jamb or window and think it's good enough. You can only "make intact" non-movable and non-mouthable surfaces such as flat walls, baseboards, ceilings, etc.. You can't paint an outside corner of a wall and think it's okay, that needs to be covered. This is a "moderate risk" method of deleading and there is dust created by scraping the old surface. 

3. "Capping" is leaving the lead painted baseboard in place (as long as the paint is intact and not loose or flaking) and putting a quarter round (or fancier) trim piece on top of the baseboard.  This needs to be done if the baseboard sticks out 1/2" or more. If the walls are already double sheetrocked (covered the old lead painted sheetrock), the baseboards are usually almost flush with the wall and capping is not necessary.

4. Completely gutting the room down to studs is a "high risk" method of deleading as there is a LOT of dust created. A "moderate risk deleader" can only remove a certain amount of wall surface per room before needing to be certified a "high risk deleader". The law was basically written so a moderate risk deleader can repair holes in the walls, but not gut the room. 

@Rob L. how many units are in the multi you have under contract? 

Pretty sure this one is gonna be on you. You don't know and can't prove if it was there when you bought the place. 

Personally, I find the idea that the tenant didn't remove the mat before their first shower pretty disgusting. Using an old shower mat that a previous tenant left behind? No way would I ever do that. Even worse is they apparently didn't clean the tub in the 3 months they lived there. 

Makes me think the tenant dropped something and broke the tub, but like I said above, proving it is the issue.