Getting Contractors to Use Lead-Safe Work Practices: 

A Personal Experience

Version in Word

November, 2001

My name is Kris LaMar.  My husband, Nate, works in international business, travelling one to two weeks out of every month.  I am a science teacher at a public high school.  

Nate and I had heard about a two-story brick Italianate farmhouse up for auction.  This was the historic home of Congressman Ralph Harvey and my husband had had his eye on the property for about 11 years; during 6  of these years the house was vacant.  Since we aren't very handy, we had a professional contractor/friend inspect the house and give us a rough estimate of cost for repairs.  He's been in the construction business for 20+ years and we really trusted him.  Lead paint was never mentioned.  We attended  the auction and were able to "win" the 'Harvey House.'  As we were  signing the paperwork, a Lead Paint Waiver was shown to us, with "Don't Know" checked.  We were also asked to sign a document waiving our rights to have the home inspected for lead paint within 10 days.  When I questioned the document, the auctioneer really minimized the lead paint risk, saying that though he was pretty sure there would be some lead paint in the home, as long as we weren't planning on eating it, it was no big deal.  After all, we were all raised in lead paint, weren't we?  We didn't waive the right to the inspection, but we weren't worried.  We knew nothing about lead paint.  The auctioneer knew we had a 15 month old daughter, and I was 2 months pregnant.

After many delays, we finally got our major remodeling started in spring.  The house would require all new wiring, plumbing, well, septic, kitchen, roof, windows and the addition of 3 bathrooms.  One small wall would be removed to accommodate  the new kitchen.  Estimates were far higher than we had expected but we continued on.  I had done some research on the internet but had focused on solutions.  After the health department tested the house we found that our main areas of concern were in the wood trim around doorways and baseboards, the doors themselves, and the windows.  the health department was also encouraging.  They didn't seem too concerned and just suggested that we test the house with dust wipe samples before we moved in.  The EPA website was encouraging, listing encapsulants as options, suggesting thorough cleaning after remodeling, preferably with the homeowners out of the house.  Dust masks and plastic sheeting were suggested. The EPA did recommend professional lead abatement if paint was peeling/cracking so we contacted professionals.  The professionals said that the costs of professional abatement are usually exorbitant for homeowner's and we really could do everything ourselves.  For us, the cost did look exorbitant, so we decided to abate our lead paint ourselves by subcontracting with local labor.

We were very frank with everyone who worked on this house.  We told everyone involved about the lead paint before they agreed to do work.  Our friend who did the original inspection was sure all of this worry about lead paint was overblown.  He agreed to do a lot of the work  All of the workers we talked to were very nonchalant about the risks; after all, we were all raised in homes with lead paint, and we were OK, weren't we?  I've really come to hate that attitude. 

We hired a local man, who said he had experience with lead paint, to remove  the lead paint on the door trim and the unique staircase we wanted to save.  Nate and I both prefer natural wood and we decided it would be better to remove a hazard than to just cover it up.  I discussed some of the EPA's recommendations and the man agreed to follow the instructions.  Since we did know that since I was pregnant I shouldn't be around the lead too much, I tried to stay out of the way.  However, I did check on the work when it was partially done and I found the man and his assistant using a regular shop vacuum (no HEPA filter) and instead of chemical stripping, they were using a heat gun and scraping the paint off.  The heat guns were the low temp kind, so that was actually OK, though they sure seemed to create a mess.  I went out and bought a shop vac with a HEPA filter for them to use.  After a couple of problems with the bag not being installed correctly and coming off during vacuuming (spewing dust everywhere I'm sure), things seemed to go better.  And of course, everyone (friends, relatives, my OB, and other workers) really couldn't see why I was so paranoid anyway.  After all, we were all raised in houses with lead paint in them...

By this time it was the end of April and I had had to start my maternity leave.  I was due May 6 and at the age of 38, pregnancy was taking its toll.  There was wall paper in every room, even the ceilings.  I started helping with wall paper removal since most of the lead had been removed, though we hadn't had a real clean up.  Why clean up when we were just going to have another mess when the drywallers started working and the windows were replaced.  Besides, we were using water to strip the wallpaper.  Sometimes I wore my dust mask (N95), but it was getting hot, and after all,  no one else seemed that worried.  Sometimes I didn't wear the mask.  I did ask my OB (top ranked) if I should have my blood level checked, but he said it really wasn't indicated.  I asked about risks to the unborn baby, and he said it wasn't likely that the baby would be affected unless I was eating the stuff.  I was stripping wallpaper the day before our new baby was born, probably in early labor.  The baby was a day early and I was so upset.  I had wanted her to be late so I could do more work on the house.  Things weren't progressing very fast and I felt I had to be out there supervising since the workers weren't very good at following instructions when no one was present.  [Thank God the baby did come early - she was at far greater risk inside me than she was nursing.  A developing baby is exposed to the same blood lead level as the mother, a nursing baby is exposed to only a small fraction.  In August I finally pushed for a blood lead level on myself and it was 7 mg/dl, and this was after the main cleanup had been done in June/July.] 

Somewhere during this time I actually gave our Contractor the EPA instructions for remodeling and I suggested that he read the material and make sure he was following all of the guidelines.  He readily agreed.  We were finally ready for window replacement.  I stayed away from the house for that, mostly.  I did stop by on the second day.  Most of the windows were done, or almost so.  They hadn't put down tarps or plastic, but I decided not to make a big fuss because everyone already thought I was overreacting - after all, we were all raised...   I figured we could just do a major cleanup at the end and just get that lead out.

About now we decided that the eaves, which had lots of badly peeling lead paint, could be a major problem.  We had hired an Amish painter to paint inside.  He agreed to paint the eaves after first power washing them.  I was very leery of this, but checked around and determined that if tarps were used at least 10-20 feet from the house, it should be OK.  I thoroughly discussed this with the painter.  By now I had learned a lot about lead paint and its risks and had realized that you can't assume people know what they're doing and you can't mince words - you have to be very blunt.  I had developed a speech - "Sir, there is lead paint in the house.  Small children, such as my new baby and my two-year old, are at the greatest risk from lead paint poisoning, especially from the dust.  Lead paint poisoning causes PERMANENT BRAIN DAMAGE.  Will you please follow these instructions on safe practices.  Our painter readily agreed to use tarps.  Leaving nothing to chance, I had my father-in-law procure and lay out the tarps under a portion of the eaves.  I had the painter power wash an area as I watched (from a distance) to make sure all of the chips and water were being caught.  The tarps were working beautifully.  I pointed this out to the painter and told him to keep on.  Unfortunately, another crew working inside the house urgently needed some supplies and it was a lot cheaper ( I thought) for me to go get them.  I had to search a bit and didn't return until about 3-4 hours later.  The power washing was done, and the tarps were still in the same location they had been in when I had left.  The painter had decided that they were too much work to move.  I burst into tears and cried for two days. You could see paint everywhere.  We tried a number of things, to no avail, we couldn't get that lead up. Our Amish painter had no money or assets to speak of and we felt suing was not an option. We decided to hire an excavator to remove the top few inches of soil.  Unfortunately, we were in the busiest season and couldn't find anyone available. 

Throughout this time I had been researching more and more about the risks of lead paint and proper remodeling techniques.  Some cardinal rules we've learned:

1. Hire professionals.  If you can't afford them, don't buy the house or do the remodeling.

2. For those of you who are sure you CAN do it yourself:

   A.  Thoroughly research yourself, before you begin/buy.  Learn all of the correct techniques.

   B.  Get estimates in writing, including a statement that the subcontractor is aware of the lead paint problem AND that they are willing to follow all EPA guidelines.

          C.  NEVER leave subcontractors alone, even for short errands.  They will follow instructions only while you are present.  Then, if you are not watching, they will get busy and forget to follow procedures.  Watch them, don't get busy doing work yourself.  And, never hire any contractor you would not want to hold financially responsible for their work.  I don't believe in suing except in extreme cases, but if that happens, be prepared.

          D.  NEVER give in to the attitude, its no big deal, we were all raised in lead paint...   You are RIGHT to be paranoid.  Lead can have harmful, permanent affects if not handled properly.

          E.  NEVER let childbearing aged women work on the remodeling.  (This is my own opinion).  The risks are too great.  Lead collects in bones and stays there.  Even lead you may have been exposed to as a child yourself.  The body treats lead like calcium.  When you are pregnant and your body has excessive demands for calcium to help build your baby's bones and brain, lead can be pulled from your bones and used instead.  Lead readily crosses the placenta, right to the baby.  Even 'acceptable' low level exposure to lead is believed to have negative affects on babies.

          F.  Above all DON'T expect your contractors to know anything about lead.  You will have to be the one responsible for the work, and no one will work on your house with the same care that you will - their children won't be living in your house.  Also, most contractors just had no idea how to work around lead or the risks/dangers involved.  In our experience, they just think you're obsessive and overly concerned for no good reason.