Lead inspection

We just went into contract on a house today. We have 10 days to get a lead and asbestos inspection. (we already had our regular inspection)

Does everyone do this before buying a house? How much does it generally cost?

Thanks

Re: Lead inspection

I have never done that with either of my purchases. I have never heard of anyone doing that. I am not sure if people actually do that. Hopefully one of the realtors will chime in.

Re: Lead inspection

Lead inspection

Nope, our house was 50+ years old when we purchased it, clearly had lead paint in areas... it was just assumed. I do believe that we had to sign something stating that we were aware of the dangers of the lead paint.

Re: Lead inspection

Lead inspection

For now, it's just me and DH, but we make a point of wearing respirator masks (DH's is a massive industrial one that he uses for work - he's a civil engineer). I wouldn't recommend having the children in the house while work is being done regardless, and contractors usually clean up after themselves pretty well. Figure any house that's 30 years old or older is going to definitely have lead paint in it.

Re: Lead inspection

Re: Lead inspection

If a home is built prior to 1978, a buyer has to be presented with a lead paint disclosure form (signed by the sellers) disclosing whether the seller knows of any lead paint hazards in the home and has any records of any lead paint. (No one ever knows of lead paint issues or has records!) The buyer always has the option of doing lead paint testing.

You can assume that, in an older home, there was definitely lead paint on the walls at some point. However, in most cases, any lead paint that may be there is encapsulated under layers of non-lead paint, wallpaper, etc. As long as it's not exposed and peeling/chipping, I don't think there's any cause for concern.

As for whether to do the testing - does it matter to you whether there is lead paint 4 layers down? Will you not buy the house because of that? I sold a house to a friend a few years ago who had a baby. She asked me whether she should do the testing, and I asked her to think about whether the outcome will really matter to her. She decided it didn't matter -- it wouldn't change anything either way in terms of buying the house, so she didn't do it.

I've been in real estate for 4 years, and sold many houses, and I've only had a buyer opt to do lead paint testing once. It was in a 1950s cape in N. Massapequa, and the test showed no evidence of hazardous levels of lead paint. But it gave the buyers peace of mind, so it was worth it for them!

The inspector who came to do the testing had a tool that could read the lead paint levels by running it along the surface of the wall. So it was non-invasive and the results were instantaneous. He did not have to scrape and take samples, but I've heard some inspectors still do it that way, so you'd want to check into how they are going to do it, if you choose to do it.

Personally, I did not do a lead paint inspection for my own home (a 1959 split level), and I don't think it's necessary for the average, well maintained home where you have intact walls/paint.

Lead inspection

Nope, we did not. Our house is built 1951 so our lawyer said we should just assume it had lead since all paints those days had lead...

Lead inspection

I did not do this when I bought my house. The house was built in 1932 I know lead paint was used at some point in the house. We were presented with a disclosure form which DH and signed.

Re: Lead inspection

Has anyone bought a house with a lead water pipe? Just wondering what your experience has been and if you replaced the pipe how much it costs?

Re: Lead inspection

I know a lot of the home inspectors I've dealt with -- including Tony Sabatino from Sundance who has gotten rave reviews on this site -- say there's no need to worry about lead pipes (which most older homes have). The lead really can't get into the water as long as the water runs through the pipes on a regular basis. They say if you run the water for 30 seconds before using it, if you haven't turned it on in awhile, it's fine. Or, if it really troubles you, you can get a water filter put on the kitchen faucet. But Tony has referred to scammers coming to test water for lead and then say you need all new plumbing, when it's not at all necessary.

This is just what I've heard from inspectors at many home inspections. I don't have first hand knowledge of it myself. But you may want to research the issue before you make any costly changes that may not be necessary.

Re: Lead inspection

Thank you for the reply. Any idea on how much replacing a water main costs? We've heard anywhere from $5,000-$10,000?