All Forum Posts by: Derreck Wells

http://www2.epa.gov/lead/renovation-repair-and-painting-program

@Bryan L., Take the EPA class on lead paint, especially if you're "coaching" REI, you need to know this stuff. Here's a few tips...

1) Lead paint exposure can kill you. Some painters will use a heat gun to loosen old paint or wallpaper. If you heat lead paint over 1100 degrees with a heat gun, the vapors can cause your brain to swell. People might think, "I'm just heating the wallpaper glue, I'll be fine!" but the paint behind the paper might be lead based and they won't be fine. Wanna play Russian Roulette anyone? I don't.

2) It's illegal in a lot of states to use a mechanical sander or grinder on lead paint. A lot of floors were painted with the stuff because it's so durable. Wanna get that hardwood back? You need to know the laws. 

3) Pressure washing your house that has lead paint on it? Illegal in some states without containment for the water and paint chips. (Yes, the water needs to be contained.) Same with sandblasting. 

4) Try to de-lead your house yourself? Signs of illegal deleading get your house flagged in MA and you can never get a lead certificate on that property after. I assume other states are similar.

I was talking to a painter last week who had been fined $18,000 because of a lead issue. This isn't a joke. The fines are real and can destroy your bottom line. I can get fined $32,500 for not having my HEPA vacuum on the job site. Just for it not being there! A regular shop vac isn't acceptable. It needs to be a special EPA certified HEPA vac. You can't toss a HEPA filter in your existing vac and think you're close enough. It's not legal. 

Welcome to the site!

@Kurt Kwart , I was as surprised as you on the votes, but the fact is it's a TV show, people watch it because she's hot, not because she's a good contractor. I've seen her do so much illegal stuff I'm amazed the EPA hasn't fined that show out of existence. In her opening, she pulls some cover paneling off of some balusters and yells something like "Oh my God! Why did someone cover these!". The first thing that comes to my mind is they were covered over because they were painted with lead paint. But hey, let's just go ahead and leave them exposed, it makes for good TV. 

I'd like to see that episode where N. Curtis was in a bikini.

In MA, you can't legally rent to a tenant with a child under 7 if you don't have a lead certificate for the property. Once it passes inspection however, you don't have to reinspect at every turnover. It's a good idea to though, because if you have a flat wall that has lead paint on it, and it's not cracked or peeling, it's legal to leave it in place. So just because you have a lead cert doesn't mean there's no lead in the house, it just means that it was safe at the time. Now lets say the wall has a crack and starts peeling right after the new tenant moves in. You can get sued and lose the house to the tenant if their kid has elevated levels. so they have what's called "Post Compliance" inspections to make sure it's still in compliance and there's no new hazards. 

I'm still chuckling about the switch plates that were in the bathroom.

Good job on the rehab.

Derreck

Welcome to the site!

Welcome to the site!

I use www.overnightprints.com for cards. They're really high quality for really cheap money. Better quality then vista print, for less money. I'll never use a vistaprint free card with their watermark on the back for anything. I just got 500 high quality cards from overnight for $25 shipped, I'm not going to advertise someone else's business on the back of my card just to save $15. 

I was also going to suggest carrying more then one card. Keep the cheesy "We Buy Homes" cards for dropping places that they might get picked up (sub shops, gas station bulletin boards, etc) . Keep the professional ones with your name and contact for the places they'd be appropriate (REI meetups, RE offices, etc.).

When you register a name with godaddy, you can also set up an email "forward" for free. It will forward whatever@yourdomain to your gmail, yahoo, or whichever email you use. You can set those up to send as whatever@yourdomain too. Google it for your email provider.

My websites are on www.weebly.com . Their free site only has a small ad down at the very bottom. You can space it far enough that no one will scroll that far to notice it. Their "pro" version allows videos and a few extras that aren't allowed on the free. It's a nice and easy site to work with.