Lead paint in a rental building

8thandprez

My husband and I are planning to have a baby in the next year or so and are wondering about the potential for lead exposure in out apt. We live in a rental and it was disclosed that lead paint "may be present" in our apartment (via the typical notices that the city requires landlords to give to tenants).

We have some areas of flaking paint in our apt, particularly around the radiators (which are inset into the walls). Has anyone done home lead testing or had a lead assessor come to their homes? I'm wondering about the course of action we should take; should we ask our landlord to repaint those areas of flaking paint?

Any feedback would be appreciated!

stacey

Before you hire anyone first make sure there is lead there. You can buy a home test kit at Lowes or Home Depot.

drano

I've dealt with this problem recently myself, so I'll tell you what I think I know.

Legal disclaimer: This not expert legal or technical advice, nor is it meant to be taken as such.

I buy home lead test kits at the hardware store for $7 or so a pair.

Most buildings in the neighborhood are older, and very likely to have lead paint. That form or disclosure is pretty standard in my experience, but it is necessary for a seller or renter to cover him/herself. Going to the bare walls the remove the stuff is time-consuming, expensive and all-around ugly. Almost is good as no lead paint at all - and unless someone has done that "to the walls" reno with full, licensed lead abatement (ha) you won't find that here - is to keep all that cruddy lead paint sealed up behind nice, new latex paint. Never let it see the light of day. So if you're having a problem with flaking, definitely check it out, look at your lease and talk to your landlord - they should take care it but make sure they do it right. If there's a bunch of lead flakes back there and they go scaping everything up without some precautions, you've got lead dust, airborne, etc. So they'll need to do some small scale abatement, but it shouldn't be a problem to "convince" him/her to spend the extra few bucks. NYC is pretty tenant-friendly.

friendlypitbull

If your building was built before 1970, absent a fire or some other total rebuild situation your apt HAS lead paint - but as previously stated this isnt a problem unless it is exposed.
The radiator flaking should be fixed but given the times it has flaked and repainted (hot metal surface) the issue may be moot - the biggest area of concern is windows ledges (children can chew on them) ,
If your apartment is properly painted you will probably not have a problem and it also goes without saying, vacuum your floors when baby starts crawling.
Congrats