Wood positive for lead? Advice please!

[Gothichome]

I wood strongly suggest you not use poly on your floors, it has all sorts of issues in the long term, if your going to go to the trouble of sanding the floors use shellac (my favourite) or Rubio mono coat (many have had great results). We have had many conversations on floor finishes. Just do a search from the top banner.
Ron

[Catheetiem]

...do you think polyurethane is suitable to seal in any possible remaining lead dust in the floors? The lead guys had said it would seal it but looking online I don't see that recommendation, and actually see a clear lead encapsulant product (it's very expensive, like over $100 a gallon). Is that something we should be using, or is the polyurethane fine?

I believe the lead encapsulant is intended to be applied over an intact painted surface where the paint is known to contain lead. I don't think it is necessary for your floors. If you mop and hepa vacuum before and after sanding your floors (at least the hepa vacuuming, maybe not the mopping after sanding), then the polyurethane likely should seal any remaining lead dust, I would think. None-the-less, it would probably be prudent to wear good dust masks and ventilate well when you are "sanding" or "polishing" the polyurethane between coats (you are going to do 3 to 5 coats, right?), just in case any remaining lead dust migrated to the top of your finish, to be released into the air again by your between-coats "sanding."

Okay, makes sense! I'm just glad to know there's a clear encapsulant just in case after everything it's still coming back positive. That's my biggest fear, after all this work lol
Yeah, at the moment we're planning on doing 3 coats, will do more if needed. And absolutely, we have our P-100 masks and we'll be wearing them for quite a while haha. Thank you!

[Catheetiem]

I wood strongly suggest you not use poly on your floors, it has all sorts of issues in the long term, if your going to go to the trouble of sanding the floors use shellac (my favourite) or Rubio mono coat (many have had great results). We have had many conversations on floor finishes. Just do a search from the top banner.
Ron

Thanks, I'll be looking into this! My main concern is that whatever finish is used be able to keep the lead dust contained. We've done a pretty thorough cleaning, but the grooves in the planks are deep and there is no way we're ever going to be able to get every little bit out of there, so we need something that will be able to go over and contain it.

Also, earlier you suggested the outline of strains and paint on the floor are due to rugs being there. I think I may have actually found a few pieces left over! There's a black underlayment type layer that has a bit of cushion, and a hard white surface on top, which I imagine is linoleum. It's the most recent layer, with the white as the border around it.



You can also see where the rug likely ended, that straight edge about an inch from the trim that's dirtier than the rest. And that's after I've cleaned it!


The contractor half of the lead guys was totally stumped on why there was this thin white border around the edge of the room. I told him that someone had suggested that there was a rug down before, and rather than paint the whole room, they just painted around the edges. He said he didn't think that was likely. Hah!

Also found this while cleaning around the room:


It was in the former entryway, which judging by the black goop around, also had a linoleum rug. Has a bit of weave texture on it though.
Anyway, all I can make out is "green" and possibly "burns down?" "urns D" at least haha. I'll have to scrape it up really carefully and see if I can see anything on the other side. The town newspaper has archives going back to its founding in 1877, they're uploaded online and searchable so I'll do a more thorough search in the future, a quick search of "burns down" and "green" didn't lead me to anything.

[Gothichome]

Cathee, a short primer on identifying period resilient floor coverings.
https://www.fs.fed.us/t-d/pubs/htmlpubs ... .htm#lfacf
I would suggest the black backed sheeting to be asphalt based.

Ron

[GibsonGM]

Late to the party...HNY! I wonder if that asphalt-like material may contain asbestos? All kinds of great stuff in old homes!

Get an EPA RRP course manual if you can. That will let you know what's involved should you decide to dig in and remove that 'white band' of lead paint. For any baseboard/trim etc, I'd encapsulate with the proper product, paint it, don't try to strip it. Your call tho. Some info here: https://www.epa.gov/lead/materials-and- ... d-painting

The regulations are onerous enough that I rarely do interior 'paint disturbance', simply because i don't want the hassle of being blamed for a child's exposure when everyone knows, the old home is FULL of lead dust from years of people sanding and repainting. Only mentioning because if you sell down the road, it could become an issue, depending on where we're at regulatory-wise.

NOTHING beats enclosing a room with poly, wet wiping and HEPA vac (certified by EPA for this purpose, not a Hoover) for this kind of work. No sense breaking your back only to find you've just moved the dust around...

[aislinn]

Really late to the party, but wanted to give my two cents about lead. We have a 1910 house in New England that definitely has lead paint. Some doors and trim, but mostly windows. Started taking the paint off the windows last summer to restore them. I have two kids under four so I was careful, but not obsessive about my protocols. Did my best to contain it and clean it up. My kids are tested every year for lead. Both have come back with results far under what is “concerning.” My pediatrician actually said the biggest difference in lead issues was when they made gasoline unleaded. All this to say, if you’re pregnant I’d try to stay away from house projects, but otherwise just use common sense and you should be fine!

[GibsonGM]

What Aislinn said. It's likely that a 3M LeadCheck test will always show the presence of lead...they're not really meant for the homeowner to use in the way you are.
They're for contractors, to give them a "GO / NO GO" indication of what's there. They will 'trigger' off most anything, quite minute levels.

A lead inspector can do an evaluation with better testing if you're still concerned, and better still, INTERPRET the results in terms of risk. Basically, ALL homes made prior to the 50s contain lead paint, and all that are pre-1978 must be assumed to contain it by law, if you're a contractor (USA). I'd never buy one if I had worries about it, put it that way; I don't. 25 yrs as a restoration painter and my lead levels aren't a problem, and I live in an 1860 farmhouse which I've restored, also....

[Gothichome]

Gibson, good to see your name on the board, how are you doing and re you busy?

[GibsonGM]

Hi Gothic, same to you! I poke my nose in now and again, but haven't seen any painting/window questions so have only been lurking.

Busy as one can possibly be!! There are only 2 other painters within 20 mi of me, so as you can imagine, the phone doesn't stop ringing. Picking/choosing what work I want to do at this point.
How are things off to the west?

[Gothichome]

Gibson, things are well working on the summer projects (out side work). The usual window restoration painting and yard work. Glad to her you are so busy, nice to be able to pick and chose the jobs you take on. Are you taking on any interesting restoration work?
I am now (just recently) semi retired, only going in three days a week, that’s kind of nice, four day weekends. Our hope is to use the time for extended weekend trips antiqueing and it allows me a bit more time for home restoration.
Ron