(This post is not edited yet)Today, April 21, 2010, is a day that will live in infamy, at least for contractors and homeowners of pre-1978 housing. This is the last day of free willy nilly throwing of lead paint around like spent radioactive isotopes. This stuff never dies, never changes, never stops coming off the pants legs of fathers returning from work to adoring little children who happily hug daddy's whatever part is closest to them. Did you know that Wikipedia refers to the painters pant leg as a lead storage device. That is one of the many reasons the EPA fine you $38,500.00 for bad lead removal tactics, double it if you do it knowingly, and add jail time. At least it's a federal crime. "Hello Bernie, eat my lead."
You're going to federal prison because you are the Toxic Avenger. There is no such thing as early release or good behavior discounts there. Do not pass go. Hello white collar Bubba.
If you choose to avoid the hoosegow then you must follow the simple guidelines concerning lead and renovating homes. Child care facilities, schools, and FHA and HUD will be discussed in another forum but I will touch on this as it relates to many homes in a way that will surprise you. You may follow under the stricter guidelines for these facilities and not know it. Your home might be government property, as the "G" men sees it.
If you live in an older home you must find a company that is registered with the EPA as a lead renovator. Any affected surface where work is to be performed needs to be tested for lead. If you are just having a wall painted nothing has to be done but if you are scraping, sanding, cutting, replacing anything or changing your windows like the government wants you to, you must follow the law of lead containment and removal.
Many times here in Dallas we replaced roofs and had to repair the siding just to flash behind the wall. We have found plank decks that were painted, wood shingles with paint, and old metal edging and stacks with old paint on them. A foot of metal edge with a three inch stretch out has 1/4th a foot of painted surface. Add fifty feet of metal edge and a couple of stacks and you are under EPA jurisdiction. Old concrete and clay tile roofs are painted too. Therefore we'll just show the pamphlet to anyone with an old home. Think Swiss Avenue, Casa Lina, Oak Cliff, East Dallas, Irving, or any number of places in the Metroplex. Old homes, old paint, skull and cross bones coming out. The funny thing is the guys putting up the mantel of the pirates to warn of toxicity is the one whose is not a pirate...back to lead and remodeling.
I have to show you the pamphlet. You have to sign a form saying you received the pamphlet. Records have to kept of the procedures, and I must post my registration, the certification of the at least one person who is trained in lead containment and removal, put up warning signs, and place warning barrier tape.
I have to test all affected walls or assume they are contaminated... did you know that lead paint, after drying is only lead and tint, that if you put lead dust down your toilet and you have a septic tank, the poop eating bacteria die, the tank ceases to function, that the lead never stops killing, and the super lead poop goes everywhere. Hazmat! Suits! Spinning headlines! Jail! Bubba!
Lead wipes out the only organ in your body that can filter it out, the kidneys, so everything else kills you too, like AIDS, everything...
These warning tapes can become crime scene tapes if the rules are not followed. That's when the HazMat suits show up again, with their hepa filters attached, looking for E.T. down at the river. The hepa filter came out of research for the bomb of all bombs during the Manhattan Project, so that the designers of weapons of mass destruction would not be killed by their own lethal substances. Now the WMD is lead. Back to the remodel.
Then comes all the blue booties shoe coverings, the disposable full body suit, gloves, masks, googles. the plastic sheathing everywhere, the shutting down of your HVAC, the coverings of duct vents, barrier tape, more plastic sheating... and lots more.
The requirements for work performed on HUD, FEMA, Fannie and Freddie, FHA, and a lot of other acronyms is even greater. One you won't believe is BofA. Yes, now Bank of America is truly an American bank because we own it and when they fund a remodel you must follow the rules of containment and clean up as you would for HUD or go see Bub. Really stiff stuff that I dare not try to regurgitate here. Believe me it will protect the succeeding tenants and keep the jails safe. Those criminals don't want lead poisoned people contaminating their sterile environments.
If this sounds scary, it is not. Most of this needs to be done. I have been re-educated. I believe in it. I was a fool to know and not take it seriously. This may be overkill but that is better than having a generation or three of mentally damaged zombies meandering about waiting for their checks until they suffer a horrible death from flu-like symptoms. That's the best case scenario for lead victims.
The worst part of this is that people with older homes need the most work and are usually the poorest. We need to help them. Okay, don't feel so snub because you're safe. These guys use cheap painters and then die. The painter died long ago. One of the reasons he was cheaper was he doesn't perform warranty work. Dead as a doornail covered in you know what.
You'll foot the bill for taking care of them and their dysfunctional children and hopefully you didn't let him kill you.
Please check that your roofing contractor, siding company, painter, floor guy, window installer, and handyman have lead training and are registered with the EPA.
I tried to be funny, and failed, but this is not a joke. This is as serious a issue as there is facing your family. Now quit letting your kids walk around the house without their shoes and socks on.
I promise more later. That's a threat.
So, if you live in a home built before 1978, this is inconvenient, but if you have a mortgage with any entity that is owned by any government agency or any TARP infested institution of money printing and laundering, you have to protect yourself, your children and the families of those who sand your walls in a very stringent manner.
It looks like painters and other contractors in the Dallas Fort Worth metroplex are going to solve the national debt if they keep on trying to poison you and anyone who comes into contact with you.
Jon Wright
www.jonwrightroofing.com
