[pmoe]

Hidely ho

House is almost 100 years old and I'm looking to get a finished attic prepped for paint. I have already removed 70s faux wood paneling and layers of wallpaper, now I'm down to old paint which I'm almost certain contains lead.

My drywall/paint guy is pitching the idea of cleaning up the wallpaper residue, then applying Gardz, then skim coating the whole room with Easy Sand, then coming back with another coat of Gardz.

Two questions -

Does this sounds like a good idea?

Will this effectively encapsulate the old paint?

Thanks.

 

[chrisn]

Sounds like a very valid plan to me,I would keep that painter:thumbup:

 

[mjkpainting]

Bingo- Sounds like a very good plan

 

[mazzonetv]

I don't want to step on anyone's toes but did you look into lead encapsulants?? you can actually buy lead encapsulants - they run @ $40 a gallon - the coverage is MUCH less than paint however. I guess the painters solution should work - I mean all you really want is to keep lead "dust" from contaminating the house. However, local building codes might require the use of an ecapsulant.. How big is the area? If you are going to skim coat a large area it might be quicker and less labor intensive (i.e. cheaper) to just use an ecapsulant. The other option is to laminate sheetrock right over the existing wall - especially if the walls are in really bad shape. I think any of these options should work, and since it sounds like it's in your private house, I don't see any building codes technically getting in the way, just felt like giving you some more options to confuse you =)

 

[ratherbefishin']

Yup, good plan, but mazzonetv brings up a good point about local codes. Your painter sounds like a competent guy and probably already knows, but make sure. Some places are really anal about lead. You might still have to use an encapsulating paint. Whatever you do, be sure to keep records for disclosures in case you decide to sell the house later.

 

[pmoe]

I don't want to step on anyone's toes but did you look into lead encapsulants??

I have not. I have seen the products at stores, but never pursued them.

If I wanted to use an encapsulant and Gardz, I suppose the encapsulant would go on first?

Thanks for all the replies.

 

[pmoe]

How big is the area? If you are going to skim coat a large area it might be quicker and less labor intensive (i.e. cheaper) to just use an ecapsulant. The other option is to laminate sheetrock right over the existing wall - especially if the walls are in really bad shape.

It's not a huge area. The attic is like a pentagon, with a 4' kneewall on the sides. The walls are in pretty good shape on the whole, so I'd rather preserve the plaster than try to dispose of it all (from the 3rd floor) and bring drywall up all those narrow flights of stairs. Here's a pic before the wallpaper came off.

 

[mazzonetv]

looking at that pic, personally I think I would just laminate some 3/8" sheetrock right over the existing wall. That wall is in rough shape (trying to be nice) and I think the time and cost of skimcoating would be better spent with a few new pieces of sheetrock. I dont' think you would ever get as nice of a finish skimcoating as you would if you put new rock up. good luck whatever you decide.

 

[pmoe]

Following up on my own thread from ~7 months ago. The attic is finally all finished, minus trim and finish electric. Not the best pic, but that wall now looks like this:

 

[housepaintingny]

You have three options when dealing with interior lead paint.
1) Abatement-Removal of the lead paint done by a certified abatement company.
2)New gypsum over the walls.
3) Encapsulate the lead. To encapsulate the lead the right way you need to use a special coating that is made for that. It's a rubbery-elastomeric acrylic any thing else to coat the walls will not work, adventally the lead will return to the surface, the products that you have mentioned are not intended for encapsulating lead. Go to your local paint store and let them know what your looking for. Depending on what paint store you go to will depend on the brand you get.