Babies: 9 - 12 Months

Anyone worried about lead paint?

Our house is 60 years old so there is a fair chance it has lead paint somewhere under there.

DH and I disagree a bit. He says if we test and find it, it will just get complicated because we'll obviously have to move or fix it. We are going to sell this house anyway within 2 years, so we'll either make it difficult to sell due to the disclosure, or we'll have to pay to fix it before we go (and lead abatement can be tens of thousands, I believe). And that's not money that we'll recoup in the sell, like we might for other improvement projects.

I totally see his points...but, it's our baby, and it's lead you know? Not sure what to do. Are you testing for lead? And if so, what will you do if you find it?
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Re: Anyone worried about lead paint?

  • I'm uneducated about it because I've only lived in newer houses. It's not dangerous if they're just around it is it though? I thought it was just dangerous if they ate it.
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  • Since your most recent coat of paint is probably newer then 30 years old I would not worry.  Once it is encapsulated by the new paint it is safe.  Plus it is not like you are going to eat the stuff. 
    Also the Lead Base Paint disclosure is very standard and no one is shocked to get it when you sell.  Every houses built before 1978 probably has lead paint. 
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  • Well, true, they have to ingest it. I just worry there will be some cracking/flaking somewhere on a baseboard or something that I don't notice. And the first thing he does with anything is put it in my mouth.

    Maybe I'm overthinking it. Even if we move, most of the neighborhoods we love in my city are older.

    As for the disclosure, I admit I don't know much about it. But I figured that right now it's an assumption, but that if we actually test for and find it it could turn off some buyers in an already tricky market. But maybe most of the potential buyers for this neighborhood are dissuaded by it.
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  • oops! First thing he does is put stuff in his mouth, not mine! lol.

    He does try to put things in my mouth, too, though!
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  • I have never had any clients test for it with the exception of a 100 unit apartment complex.  It is a standard addendum to the purchase contract in our state for any building built before 1978. 

    I do agree about the flaking.  If it is flaking then scrape it off and re-paint. 

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  • We live in a house built in 1850 and I bought the home testing kits and everything that could test positive did (like my whole house).  I considered not testing for the same reasons as your DH mentions, but did so because I had to convince my husband that he was not taking the issue seriously enough.  We are now working on painting and encapsulating, etc.  I think that when you live in an older house you just have to take special care and precautions.  Read up on lead safety.  Even lead experts will tell you that abatement is very costly and often not necessary, you just need to engage in safe practices.
  • And as far as the disclosure thing, I agree with all the points pp has made - in an older house buyers just assume that there is some lead - that's what was used.  It is a risk people assume when they purchase an older house.
  • My house is 90 years old.  I'm not too concerned because all the most recent coats of paint would not have lead.  However, a few of the windows were painted shut and the owners (we rent) opened them and vacuumed out paint chips.  That was the only place where there was any danger of old lead paint still being present.
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