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freeing a painted shut window from 1908

11/1/13       
chris

Long story short I have a window I would like to open in our kid's bedroom. Its been painted shut since who knows when (window opens upwards with the weights..forget what that's called) I am in the bay area. The contractor's board sent out a notification about a year ago stating that any demo involving a house buolt before date X??? would have no more than X square feet demo'd if no lead abatement trained person were doing the job. So...I'm 42 and grew up with lead paint all over the place as well as asbestos in the schools (perhaps that explains why I chose this career...whoozy)
My question is should I really be THAT concerned? Can I just use a festool vac while razoring/scraping/sanding the painted shut window track??? My kid sleeps in the room (age 6).
As far as making the landlord aware and responsible for this, it is not a real option for reasons I wont get into.
Thanks

11/2/13       #2: freeing a painted shut window from ...
D Brown

Maybe try a heat gun to loosen the paint and work it with a thin putty knife or something to break the seal.
i am not an expert but am pretty sure you would need to eat the lead paint to have ill effects .

11/2/13       #3: freeing a painted shut window from ...
joiner Member

I have freed the old sash many times. Most hardware stores have a tool just for the job. It's a small saw with a blade of teeth on two rounded edges set into a handle flush on one side. Just work with it against the face of the sash, and cut through the paint bond at the sash stop trim on left, right and top, and at the window stool at bottom. That breaks 95% of it with a little bit to chip at the sash track. Hopefully the tracks aren't too full of paint to allow travel.
A heat gun or torch will vaporize the lead, so I always stick with cold work. A Festool vac with HEPA is perfect, as abatement guys use them all the time. The Guvment has made this a huge deal to cover their ass. Just like asbestos, they can't establish a "safe" level of exposure, so the rule is NO EXPOSURE.
I'm 54, and like you somehow survived a childhood saturated in lead in paint, gasoline, etc.

11/2/13       #4: freeing a painted shut window from ...
treehugger

Joiner,

Think about it.

You might have been posting on the Rocket Science Forums if it had not have been for all that lead paint and gasoline you used to bathe in.

You might have been a "contender".

11/2/13       #5: freeing a painted shut window from ...
mark

Breathing lead paint dust is bad for kids. It's not some silly conspiracy. Lead paint in and of itself is not dangerous until you mess with it. If you do it:
Empty the room. Use a hot knife first. If you need to strip it, use a "silent paint remover" it's a radiant heat tool. Drop cloths, taped up plastic sheathing. Clean clean clean. Then repaint before you move the kido back in. It's no big deal for you, but lead effects developing brains. If you are fastidious, you'll do a better job than an abatement crew. What they'd do additionally is set up an air monitor to alert if there is airborne lead. They'd also wrap up the disposables in plastic bags before they supposedly pay an extra fee to throw it in the landfill, where it becomes the same as Ho Ho wrappers.
Just do it right.

11/2/13       #6: freeing a painted shut window from ...
Dennis Everett  Member

Website: http://www.thewoodconnection-sj.com

Hey Chris,

Any structure built before 1978 is assumed to have lead-based paint, according to the EPA's "RRP" (Renovate, Repair, Paint) program, so I think you can safely assume that in your 1908 home you have it.

Lead is a neurotoxin that particularly effects young children. It's also cumulative with no good way to remove it from our systems. Being careful with lead contamination in your child's room is the right thing to do.

Avoid any process that might atomize the paint or introduce lead-contaminated dust into the room. Misting the area where you are working with a water bottle helps keep dust from becoming airborne. If you have to sand, definitely use your Hepa-filtered vac to contain the dust, then repeatedly wipe down the entire area with wet Swiffers until they come up clean. Personal protection for you is important, too - use a mask that is rated for lead dust. The cheapie nuisance dust masks won't do the job. Lastly, if you create any dust, don't walk around the house after you finish working; you'll just spread the stuff all over. The best thing is to get a set of the inexpensive Tyvek coveralls and when you're done working, take them off in the room, bag them and dispose of them. Wipe down your shoes, too.

These are all procedures that are taught when you take the EPA certification course for lead safe work practices.

I guess I would try to free the paint-welded window with a utility knife or something that didn't create a lot of mess.

Overkill? Maybe. It sounds like a lot of effort, I know, but lead exposure is no joke - especially for your kids.

Good luck and be safe.

11/2/13       #7: freeing a painted shut window from ...
Chris

Great how to advice. What about the step about getting it your hair and changing the tyvek suit and shoes to your birthday suit and getting from point B, the shower?
Then just dump disposables at the dump or stick it my garbage can? Isn't that a no no?
If I tell the dump guys it's lead stuff don't I have to be a certified in "abatement" ?
I mean really, we have all snorted some lead as kids and I feel ok... I think. Maybe treehugger is right. Dunno. I just suspect there is a tiny bit of propaganda at work here.

11/3/13       #8: freeing a painted shut window from ...
Dennis Everett  Member

Website: http://www.thewoodconnection-sj.com

Hi Chris,

Good question on the disposal aspect. That question was brought up in the training I took and the answer was, shall we say, inconclusive. I think in your case it is probably "nuisance level" debris (my term, not the EPAs) and is okay to bag and dispose with your normal household trash. Please don't take my word for it though, because we never got a good answer on that. As far as getting out of your biohazard moon suit and into the shower, common sense prevails: If you're making a lot of dust (but you won't because you are careful), wear a hat or use the hood that normally comes with the Tyvek suit. Peel it off in the room, bag it and dispose of it. That should do the trick, just make sure you do the wipe-down before you exit the room.

12/23/13       #9: freeing a painted shut window from ...
paul enos

do not sand at all..... pull the trim on both sides-pull the window out. replace with a new window. it will be dune in a few hours. to strip all the paint and prep the window prime and paint again-new cord and trying to find the weight that has most likely fallen will depend on how many nails and screws have bin put in it, to keep it closed. not to mention how many coats of paint since since 1908 that you will have to remove. if you order the window correct you will only need to pull all the trim & stop from the inside and insert a new window 45 min. lead has to be ingested my mouth or in the air to be of any real harm. do not sand or use a heat gun. if you can not replace it with a new window thin use a stripper.

12/24/13       #10: freeing a painted shut window from ...
chris

Thanks Paul. Hadnt thought of the replacement option. Duh. I appreciate it. I have my father and wife and kid staying with us so now we really need that window to open so we can sleep with a closed door as the guest are clamoring around the apartment at 3 a.m due to their Jet lag.


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