Last time I posted here, I got some great advice on a specialized structural problem, and it saved me time and money…and we got a great project out of it!
This time, the question is more general. We just bought a wonderful old Victorian (1878 construction date) that has been owned by the same guy for the past 48 years. As a result, although he kept it up, he never “de-leaded” it (removed the lead paint). I have had the house tested, and both the inside and outside are lead positive (no surprise). We want to renovate, adding bathrooms, tearing out walls, etc, for 6 months, BEFORE we move in. I don’t really view this is an optional idea, since we have one small child and another cooking (think, crawl, suck and happily absorb toxic dust from being on the floor all day, in the worst case)
What’s the smartest thing to do here (to minimize health problems for the crew, and then for us, once we move in:
1) De-lead all the moving parts (windows and doors) and leave everything else be, then unleash the renovation?
2) Or de-lead everything we can reach (expensive, expensive, expensive) then remodel?
3) Or remodel, clean up the lead tainted dust, then de-lead what’s left and clean up the dust again?
If you were the contractor we are going to hire, how would you want the job sequenced?
Then thinking of it from the homeowner’s point of view (safety, cost and convenience) what would you want to do?
Thanks!
Notaclue
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if you are really going to do a whole house, non-structural remodel..
first do a measured drawing... take pics of each room
then i would start on the top floor.. remove all the trim.. use a sharpie to identify each unit..
next floor.. and bottom floor..
send all the trim to a strip joint and have them strip it to bare wood..
go back to the top floor and decide.. are you going to patch the plaster or take it to the studs..
i'd take it to the studs.. but you could also have it rewired and replumbed by just cutting holes in the plaster / lath
rewire.. replumb ... install central vacuumn.. any HVAC..
if you left the plaster.. blow cellulose in every stud bay.
if you took it to the studs you can use insul mesh and blow denspak cells
or you can blueboard .. blow cells and then plaster..
or you can drywall... blow cells and patch
when the walls & ceilings are finished..
finish electrical & plumbing
replace all of your trim
then refinish all of your floors..
paint..
furnish...
and move in..
see you in a couple years.. have fun...
make sure everyone in the family is on board
Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Mike, I'd bulldoze the thing before I'd do all that!
God bless those of you who would do all that!
blueWarning! Be cautious when taking any framing advice from me. Although I have a lifetime of framing experience, all of it is considered bottom of the barrel by Gabe. I am not to be counted amongst the worst of the worst. If you want real framing information...don't listen to me..just ask Gabe!
Hmm; Bulldozing sounds interesting...
OK, that's not a real option here, though!
So far, one recc. to take it down to the studs and one to bulldoze.
Here on the West Coast, we must have some sort of bizarre attachment to buildings like this (Sentimental, as it were); either that, or I really want to buy my General Contractor his next sailboat (my last remodel bought him a new J105 sailboat)
Any other ideas on how to go about this?
Thanks
notaclue
Sorry, I missed something; if I use a Sharpie to identify all the trim, won't the off-site stripper solutions/bath simply take off those marking along with the lead paint?
Or what am I missing?
notaclue
> if I use a Sharpie to identify all the trim, won't the off-site stripper solutions/bath simply take off those marking along with the lead paint?
I have a set of steel stamps (letters and numbers) commonly used in machine shops. They work fine on wood, and would be more likely to survive chemical processes. I numbered all my casement window sash and jambs under where the hinges go -- the hinges hide the numbers.
-- J.S.
Very clever; the stamps and hiding their impressions in the hinges is something I hadn't thought of.
Do you think I would be committing an abomination if I removed all but the front classic double hung windows and replaced all the rest with new Marvin or Andersens (sp)?
For Northern California, would you think wood inside and out on new windows or is there something else that still looks appropriate but needs less maintenance?
I am learning something from all your answers, so as always,
THANKS!
Notaclue
> Do you think I would be committing an abomination if I removed all but the front classic double hung windows and replaced all the rest with new Marvin or Andersens
The decision depends mostly on the condition of the existing windows. If they're crumbling into fragments due to termites and rot, you have to replace them. If they're merely falling apart, but the wood is sound, it's often better to rehab them.
Check out Resource Conservation Technology, http://www.conservationtechnology.com, for weatherstripping to rehab your windows.
The only other reason to replace windows is to change styles. My place was a hodgepodge of double hung, casement, glass louvers, aluminum sliders, and fixed lites. I wanted to go with matching casements throughout.
-- J.S.
That's part of why we make the big money
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
The remo process gets rid of a lot of lead bearing material in itself. Painting is last thing on the job so a good paint job deals with the rest of it.
In between are twenty or thirty vacumn jobs to pick up the loose dust.
Welcome to the
Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
where ...
Excellence is its own reward!