Potential lead paint under wallpaper

[Koki Agata]

Hello Fellow BPers!

So my wife and I just purchased our first property (woo) and started rehabbing the kitchen.

It has wallpaper all over, so we are trying to take them off. However, since the house is built in 1947, and in the sellers disclosure, the sellers weren't sure if the paint contained lead, we are assuming it does. Which means when taking off the wallpaper, we are likely to encounter lead paint.

While we were scraping the wallpaper off, we started to wonder about the lead paint underneath...

How strictly do you follow the guidelines for lead paint when removing wallpaper? We are thinking about buying respirators, but would it be enough? We don't have any children.

Let me know what you think or do!

Thanks!

[Frank S.]

Buy lead tests. If it changes to red, it's lead.  White paint has 50 times more lead.

Take it seriously.  You need to do research.

Isolation, wet work,  respirators, PPE, block vents, etc. 

It can still affect you.  The body confuses lead with iron, it is stored in your bones.

It's not hard,  just be careful, research,  think,  be smart.  Read about lead encapsulation (paint). EPA allows you to remove lead up to a certain SF without permits.  

In IL, if you test,  you must disclose . It's up to you what documentation and paper trail you want to have.  I wouldn't reach out to inspectors. 

Call a few contractors for quotes and get ideas