# Best way to remove exterior lead paint



## MLMIB (Aug 12, 2010)

The lead paint on the exterior of my house is pealing and cracking, i'd like to remove it to wood so I can repaint it, is there a good way? Do they have scrappers with vacuums available at a DIY price level?

New area to me and worried about lead paint.

Thanks for the help.


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## NCpaint1 (Aug 13, 2009)

MLMIB said:


> The lead paint on the exterior of my house is pealing and cracking, i'd like to remove it to wood so I can repaint it, is there a good way? Do they have scrappers with vacuums available at a DIY price level?
> 
> New area to me and worried about lead paint.
> 
> Thanks for the help.


Hire it out to a certified contractor. :yes: Im sure thats not the answer you wanted, but its the best bet in this case.


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## MLMIB (Aug 12, 2010)

Ugh, I just can't afford all there removal fees. We're dealing with asbestos too. Also, if I were to have it professional done it'd be almost worth it to just remove the wood and replace it with plastic. I came across this unit called the silent paint remover which seems to be a lead friendly way to remove paint that a consumer could handle. Any thoughts? I didn't know owning a house was so expensive in terms of dangerous materials.

Thanks for the help


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## jsheridan (Jan 30, 2011)

MLMIB, I responded to your other post about lead. What NC offered is probably the only other free advice you'll get on lead. Unfortunately. To remove and replace your exterior would fall under the same regulations, again, unfortunately. However, if you're planning to be there long term, it might be the better way to go to get rid of it now completely. As the rule matures and expands, and as contractors begin to get the feel for the true costs involved, the price of working lead projects is only going to escalate. And, if you get rid of it completely, you'll have nothing left that can fall under future, more stringent regulation, no residual lead to worry about. Stripping a home exterior of lead paint is impractical for the typical homeowner, if not impossible. And even though ho's are exempt under the rule, you can still be liable if you inadvertently poison someone in that process. You'll also have to disclose the presence of lead at resale, and who knows what un-godly impact that's going to have on the future real estate market. They already had new tighter proposals before the existing one's went into effect, and we can expect them sometime in 2011. It's all going to get worse, much worse. This is all to protect the children. If you like big, intrusive government, you got it. Good Luck!


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## NCpaint1 (Aug 13, 2009)

MLMIB said:


> Also, if I were to have it professional done it'd be almost worth it to just remove the wood and replace it with plastic.


This is the route that I would probably go with. You can put up whatever you like, doesnt necessarily have to be vinyl. If its not in the budget, wait and save.

If you end up getting new siding, it would probably be a good time to think about adding, or upgrading the insulation while you're at it. Could go with blown in, or the closed cell foam.


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## racebum (Mar 8, 2010)

you can take a class on lead paint removal for less than $200, it will let you get certified in lead paint removal and is offered at interlink and most jon don's as well as some paint stores. long story short you have to scrape, not sand....ever. the fines can be pretty steep so if you can't hire it out learn how to do it the correct way


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## housepaintingny (Jul 25, 2009)

MLMIB said:


> Ugh, I just can't afford all there removal fees. We're dealing with asbestos too. Also, if I were to have it professional done it'd be almost worth it to just remove the wood and replace it with plastic. I came across this unit called the silent paint remover which seems to be a lead friendly way to remove paint that a consumer could handle. Any thoughts? I didn't know owning a house was so expensive in terms of dangerous materials.
> 
> Thanks for the help


If you have it professionally done, either way wheather you re-paint it or vinyl side it you will need to hire a lead certified firm, even to vinyl side, because they are disturbing the lead paint. Painting it would probably be about a third of the price vs. Vinyl siding and in order to have all of the lead and asbestos completely removed you would need to hire an abatement company which would cost the most. It is the dust in the lead paint and asbestos surfaces that cause health risk. People don't realize it, but it does not take much dust at all. Even a little bit of dust on your clothes or shoes and your bringing that into your home where it can get inhaled. A certified lead Firm will have the proper training and equipment to prevent the lead and asbestos dust from entering your home during renovations. Even if you hooked a vacumne up to a scraper or sander for your own protection you can't just use an ordinary shop vac, even if it is a hepa vac. A quality hepa vac for a company to use to scrape and sand lead paint starts at about $600.00. You will need 4-6 mil plastic, duct tape, tyvex suit, n100 respirator, keep the surface wet and proper equipment at the least to protect yourself and your family if you take this project on along.


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## Ted ramsey (Apr 22, 2011)

*Do it yourself but safely*

Low Infrared paint removal is a safe way to do it yourself. No fumes,little dust with soft paint. There's no way to get old paint off that is easy. That's why painters used to just scrape off the loose chips. Now they can' t do that without the proper equipment and EPA certification. Several IR tools out there. Ecostrip one is UL listed so it's probably the safest.


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