Lead Based Paint inspection

[Thirteen]

Normally, I wouldn't care, but we have small people and it's very toxic.
The house was built in 1965, but completely remodeled inside and out.

We have a company coming out to inspect the property, and they are charging $$$$.

The question is, if they find some, how and to what extent do I use that as a bargaining chip for our contract? Should I ask for removal? Should I ask for a monetary credit?
Should we walk?

I have lots of annoying house questions right now.


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[fluffhead]

I'm surprised that the owners would agree to a lead paint inspection - if it's found, they would then have to disclose it to future prospective buyers.
Remediation would be terribly expensive. Normally one would just paint over it, and sweep/vacuum frequently.
It's really only a problem if there's extensive chipping paint around the house, and if you don't clean up dust and paint chips.
A routine home inspection will not test for lead paint, and if I were buying a house, I would not do additional tests for it, since when I'd want to resell the house, I'd then have to disclose it. Just keep your house clean, discourage your children from licking the floor, and you should be fine.

[GreyhoundsRUs]

People obviously raise children in the big city with no issue (where old homes and apartments are par for the course). If you live in a home built during lead paint times, they'll just check the kids yearly. And what Fluff said

[Sheherezade]

My son had a moderate high lead reading when we lived in Baltimore. He was about a year old. We replaced the windows because we were told that's where most of the dust came from - old wood windows with layers of paint. We also cleaned everything with TSP often, which is terrible for the environment but removes lead dust.

He never had a high lead level again and at 17 seems to be doing fine.


Angie

[ides]

With the age of your kiddo with another on the way I would test. Unless it's flaking then keeping it covered with fresh paint works. If it's flaking have it removed. Also, have them test the soil surrounding the house where paint may have flaked into the garden. If it's contaminated you can have the soil removed and replaced. Lots of home sellers balk at lead removal/prevention so I would negotiate costs into your repair cap and if they don't want to do the repairs to have them come to closing with that cash.

[Thirteen]

I think we are divided on what to do. We both feel it's the right thing to test, but if it's found, I'm not sure what we'd do... Not buy the awesome house? I have no clue.
AND most homes here used it because it has a natural mildicide component - mold doesn't like it.

Guess I'll have to talk to DH when he gets home about pros and cons.


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[JDAZ11]

Just curious - how did you get them to let you test before making an offer?

I had no idea about the mold thing, that's very interesting.

[fluffhead]

yes - what ides said about the soil. I tested the soil around our grape arbor, since the arbor had chipping white paint. It was really high, so I never used the grapes - just let the raccoon gorge himself on them.
But we lived in a house with old paint, chipping in places, and as long as we kept things relatively clean, the kids always tested low.
You never know where the lead is coming from when kids test high - there was a story I heard about a kid who tested massively high, and they couldn't find the source. Finally they traced it to a samovar the family had bought in Russia, put together with lead solder, and the mom was using it to make the kid's formula. Another kid's high levels were traced to the big bird he was gnawing all day.

[OrionGrad]

I'm paranoid about the lead paint in our house, even though it's been covered up with many layers of non-lead based paint over the years. But both our property inspector and our pediatrician said not to worry too much unless it's chipping or flaking. We've also avoided sanding any of the wood in the house for the same reason.
When we got upstairs windows replaced, the guys who did it tested for lead, and because it was there they had to do an extra process that cost more money during the installation. (If I'm remembering it right.)
So basically, the more work/construction you're planning on doing to the house, the more concerned I would be about the lead issue.

[Chrisada]

There's lead paint in all of the houses in my city and no one tests.


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[ides]

There's lead paint in all of the houses in my city and no one tests.

This. The only people I know who have tested or who spread testing awareness have had a kid get high levels when tested. I think people should be more aware. It's really scary when it happens - happened to a close friend's 1 year old.