Re: New Baby/Mass. Lead Law - Landlord Forum thread 342824

Re: New Baby/Mass. Lead Law by Garry (Iowa) on February 6, 2016 @00:00

First, lead is bad for everyone, not just children. Just look at the problems they are having with the water in Flint, Michigan right now. But, you do not have to "delead" the place, meaning you don't have to tear out all the old plaster walls, and put back new sheet rock. You are allowed to "encapsilate" it, which is exactly what you did. You encapsilated the outside of the home by siding over the old lead-based paint. And you did the same thing inside, by repainting all the walls. You are allowed to scrape, and then repaint any lead-based paint problems you find. When you replaced the windows, that took care of the lead-based paint where the windows slid up and down, which created lead dust that someone could get on their fingers, and put into their mouths. As for your tenants, you could be a really nice LL, and send them a baby gift of some sort, which may ease any tensions there may be between you and the T. Then, don't bother them until they contact you, either about them moving out, or if they need something fixed. Just let them to be first-time parents, and enjoy their child with out interruptions. Remember, there now may be the possibility that with added expenses of a new baby, they may not be looking to move right away, so they could be there for awhile. Then, this summer, you could call and ask them if you could come in to look for any chipped or pealing paint. It sounds as though you have done everything right in trying to protect everyone from any possible lead-based pain problems on your property. If you want confirmation of that, contact your city or county health dept. about it.

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Re: New Baby/Mass. Lead Law by Anonymous (MSA) on February 6, 2016 @04:09	[ Reply ]

In Massachusetts, regular paint is NOT considered an encapsulant. Read the following from the state website: Encapsulation is a legal method of containing lead paint hazards under the Massachusetts Lead Law. An encapsulant is a special liquid coating that provides a long lasting, effective barrier over lead paint. Regular paint is NOT an encapsulant. Home owners must have a lead inspection by a Licensed Massachusetts lead inspector BEFORE they apply encapsulants as a deleading method. I fear that if I contact the health department that I will open a Pandora's box. I would most likely need to encapsulate because the apartment is in such good condition, but it's possible that I would have to strip (dip) all the doors, and possibly strip the door frames due to "friction" (there is none). I think it might be better to contact the Small Property Owners Association (SPOA) here in Mass. or talk to other landlords who have deleaded before I get "officials" involved, because I have no idea what I'm getting into. I just spent $70 on that side of the house with painting, new bath, siding (including stripping the house), and new windows, not to mention thousands more on a gas heat conversion, etc. Is there anyone in LPA land in Mass. who has deleaded and can provide me with additional details about what I might be expected to do? Thanks

Re: New Baby/Mass. Lead Law by Garry (Iowa) on February 6, 2016 @10:57	[ Reply ]

OK. I learned something new today. But the "special liquid coating" simply means a special type of paint with certain chemicals in it that does not allow lead particles to come thru the coating. You will still need to "paint" it on, using brushes, rollers, or spray-on equipment. There are many specialty type paints and varnishes on the market, so which one to get, depends on the job you are doing. But I doubt you will need to strip down any doors, walls, or woodwork, to get down to bare plaster or wood. That is called lead abatement, and most states require a licensed person or company to do that, using strict methods of removal procedures costing thousands of dollars. That's why states allow people to encapsulate (cover over) lead, rather than abate it. So what you may have to do is re "paint" the whole apartment, using a "special" paint to do it. If you are watching the Flint, Mich. water problem, when they switched water sources, they did not put a certain special chemical in the water to keep coating all the leaded pipes in the city, which caused their problem. They are now doing that, and are slowly re-coating the lead pipes again to make them safe. You will essentially be doing the same thing. Apparently your state is more progressive than Iowa. We can use any kind of indoor or outdoor paint to cover the lead problems, as long as the scraping and cleanup of the surfaces are done correctly.

Re: New Baby/Mass. Lead Law by Anonymous on February 7, 2016 @07:29	[ Reply ]

Where in mass are you ? Which county? I know a contractor he is Florida, mass. You can get a referral for lead inspection by asking the municipal dept for lead inspector or seach in the internet for lead inspector in your city. I hire specialized people to remove the lead.It cost around $5000 . It pay off to do it. You get your delead certificate.

Re: New Baby/Mass. Lead Law by Anonymous (MA) on February 6, 2016 @13:42	[ Reply ]

In Massachusetts, regular paint is NOT considered an encapsulant. Read the following from the state website: Encapsulation is a legal method of containing lead paint hazards under the Massachusetts Lead Law. An encapsulant is a special liquid coating that provides a long lasting, effective barrier over lead paint. Regular paint is NOT an encapsulant. Home owners must have a lead inspection by a Licensed Massachusetts lead inspector BEFORE they apply encapsulants as a deleading method. I fear that if I contact the health department that I will open a Pandora's box. I would most likely need to encapsulate because the apartment is in such good condition, but it's possible that I would have to strip (dip) all the doors, and possibly strip the door frames due to "friction" (there is none). I think it might be better to contact the Small Property Owners Association (SPOA) here in Mass. or talk to other landlords who have deleaded before I get "officials" involved, because I have no idea what I'm getting into. I just spent $70 on that side of the house with painting, new bath, siding (including stripping the house), and new windows, not to mention thousands more on a gas heat conversion, etc. Is there anyone in LPA land in Mass. who has deleaded and can provide me with additional details about what I might be expected to do? Thanks