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How much lead paint have you found?

I am working with a couple who is buying a home built in 1958. Because of the laws, I have to provide a lead based paint disclosure and lead based paint pamphlet. You all know what I'm talking about.

The home inspector made the purchaser feel better about the home, since he claims that LBP (lead based paint) was used mostly on wood trim (and not on the walls) and that most of the trim had been replaced recently.

The purchaser also asked about lead in the water, which is also in the pamphlet.

I personally do not know of anyone who has found lead paint or lead in the water.

Have you had any experience in finding lead based paint in a home? How was that experience??

Posted by Al Maxwell - Real Estate Agent - on 02/26/2008 06:58 AM

Comments (14)

14 Comments on How much lead paint have you found?

FEB

2008

I have never had anybody run into it yet - It must be out there since they used it for years. I just think these older house have had the lead based paint, painted over so many time that it is hard to detect. Thanks for the reminder and the great info. Good Luck.

I have never seen or found lead in the water and only once on a window sill. It was an old home where the owner, who was 97, passed away. She hadn't done any painting since the mid 60's. When I give the buyers the lead paint disclosure I try to loosen it up and bring humor to the situation. I will hand it to them, ask them to sign it and say "Only the government could take two full pages to tell you not to eat your wall.".

Lead is almost passe as an issue. We have so many disclosure items, artificial stucco, LP siding, polybutylene pipe, radon, mold, the list goes on and on.

The disclosures are done because of the law and fear of litigation, the real world hazard is very small in scope.

I had one situation where there was asbestos wrap on a pipe. It cost 600 dollars to remove safely. That was 25 years ago !!! It was my first house .

because you asked:

"Have you had any experience in finding lead based paint in a home? How was that experience??"

i thought I'd answer:

deadly... even if the chances were one in a million, I'd want to know. I have kids. I'd also add, that, given the recent alarms & recalls of toys where lead-based paint was discovered, I'm now thinking LBP is trying to make a comeback! You just never can know what paint a homeowner will use. A lot of people don't care about products being illegal in this country, they only care about cheap, and we all know there is a lot of illegal traffic in our ever so FREE country.

Because of the extreme risk to young children from lead exposure and ingestion from picking up chips of paint or inhaling aerosol from paint scrapings in doorways or window frames, we need to be very, very careful to not gloss over this important disclosure.

This is an important matter and since few are likely to read these comments, I'll post my experiences.

Good topic and one we need to read about more often.

I frequently bump into lead paint...since I flip older homes myself, it is also a personal concern when I am my own client.

I am diligent about pointing out the risk, handing out the pamphlet, helping to remediate (relatively easy and inexpensive these days).

But I also chuckle sometimes and realize...I am a child of hippie parents from the 60's/70's and I have eaten my share of window sills...chewed on thousands of lead painted toys...and I turned out ok somehow. OR NOT...maybe that explains a lot, now that I think about it. Thanks for posting!

I tell buyers that every house before 1978 has some form of lead based paint somewhere in the house unless it had been stripped to the studs at some point and completely resheetrocked and painted over. Even if there are 10 coats of paint on the walls, the original coat probably still had lead paint. I can't see how an inspector could tell a buyer it was probably only on the trim. I agree that it's passe. All you can do is tell someone that their kids and pets shouldn't eat the chips around the windows or anywhere else.

Donna - I like how you explained it. PERFECT! I think, thoroughly informing and educating a Buyer about LBP, will alleviate any anxieties or fears. I've had to give out the brochure a few times myself, but never entirely comprehended how to deal with it. Thanks for the simple & clear explanation. I can now be better versed on the issue.

LOVE! LOVE! LOVE AR! a LEADer in developing a professional and ever so practical community! :-)

I've only had it come up once...and it was with a condo I had listed. The potential new buyers were concerned because they had a small child but refused to pay for a "formal" lead based paint inspection and instead bought a test kit from the hardware store (in our area, it is the buyers who pay for the inspection if they desire it). They were given all the disclosures and information about the dangers of lead based paint and did ultimately buy the property.

Al, I had a transaction several years ago where there was lead in the water. It was an FHA loan and required testing the well water and it had exceeded the EPA's standard for lead. The seams on the pump in the well was soldered with lead based solder and it was leaching into the well causing a high concentration of lead. The Sellers replaced the pump and installed a whole house water filtering system and that fixed the problem

Good Post!

Mara, Thanks! I actually have a listing right now that was built in 1970, but because of a fire, the house was taken to the studs and rebuilt in 1994, so there is no lead based paint, but so there would be no issues, I still had him sign the form because of the original date being in 70. You can never be too careful just in case there was something left with lead paint somewhere, maybe stained on the studs.

MAR

2008

I have buyers in MA that want to purchase a foreclosure built before 1978 and also have a child under 6. My question is if the MLS listing sheet says lead paint "unknown" do they still need to have it brought under interim control 90 days after taking title?

I am guessing the bank will not allow the inspection. So I am concerned what they will be required to do by law & and how much it may cost ect.

OCT

2008

I am trying to buy a house in San Jose California and the appraiser noted there was peeling paint. FHA required a test at $1200 out of my pocket and found lead in the paint and the dirt around the house. Now we may loose the house because the bank (the house is an REO) won't remove the paint. Prep for repainting is estimated at $10,000. I wish my Realtor didn't have the same attitude as all of you and told me that this could be a real problem before I spent so much money on inspections and reports.

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