Home Inspector for Tyler, Lindale, Whitehouse, Bullard and all of East Texas

Several of my clients have asked me about lead paint in their homes.  Though there is a plethora of information about this on the internet, I wanted to jot down some information and place it on this site.

Most of us realize that lead is bad, especially for children under 6 years of age.  EPA Site

If you are living in a home or contemplating purchasing a home that was built prior to 1978, chances are high that the paint (exterior and interior) contains lead.

There are a couple of ways to determine if your home has lead paint.  The first way is to hire someone with an X-ray fluorescent scanning device.  Now, I'm all about small business and capitalism, but this could be an expensive proposition.

The second method is to purchase a lead paint test kit (swab) from your local home improvement store.  The kits range from $5 - $12 and according to an article in Consumer Reports do a decent job.  CR Article

So what do you do if you find lead in your paint?

Well, you can hire a lead remediation and removal company.  Their job is to use necessary methods to scrape or sand the paint and remove it from the home.  They also have to remove all of the dust that is created (because that is where your children can ingest the lead).  This is an expensive option to the average homeowner.

Another method leaves the lead paint in place and seals it with a line of products called "encapsulants".  These products are applied and then painted with a fresh coat of lead-free paint.

According to information I found on the internet, the average homeowner can save up to 80% of the cost of remediation/removal by applying encapsulating paint themselves.

Unfortunately, here in Tyler, I have been unable (as of this writing) to find a company that carries any of the encapsulating products.  As a matter of fact, each paint store I called, merely recommended priming the surface with a quality primer.  Each stated that this would be "good enough" to seal the wall.

Fortunately, the internet is at our finger-tips and I was able to find some products.

ChildGuard
http://www.hytechsales.com/prod1100.html
http://www.castlewholesalers.com/PEEL-AWAY-4000-LEAD-STOP-Lead-Encapsulating-Paint-5-Gal-.html

Here are a few links that may help:

http://www.health.state.ny.us/environmental/lead/lead_encapsulants.htm

Bob Vila's site

Hopefully this will give some preliminary information to aid you in finding what you need.  Please feel free to use it and good luck.

Sincerely,
Bruce
www.TylerHomeInspector.com