Anyone live in an older home?

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-26-2003
Anyone live in an older home?
4
Fri, 03-12-2004 - 1:51pm
Hi - I just joined this board, but this issue has been bugging me. Do any of you live in an older home and worry about lead paint? Our house was built in 1930 and I am worried about lead paint. I will collect some paint chips and send them to the lab to be tested and have bought a vacuum with a HEPA filter, but it still bothers me that there is a chance there is lead paint. I have 2 little ones and now I wish we would have moved into a newer house, but we couldn't afford it. I did have my older daughter tested and she was o.k., but it still bothers me. Does anyone else worry about it or am I being a worry wart? I guess it would make me feel better if I knew other people lived in older homes with little kids too. Thanks.
iVillage Member
Registered: 01-13-2004
Fri, 03-12-2004 - 9:26pm
Don't worry about lead paint :) Just repaint your walls with latex paint. Make sure that if you plan on stripping any paint off of old moldings that you do it outside of your house and wear a face mask if you are sanding it. If you repaint the walls and any chipping moldings or window sills you should be fine.

My house is 104 years old and we have no problems.

Jen

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-06-2003
Fri, 03-12-2004 - 11:55pm
I found an article about the hazards of trying to remove lead based paint:

http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/5055.html

and here is an article on keeping your kids safe:

http://www.state.ma.us/dph/clppp/clean.htm

HTH

Desiree

 

Avatar for decorator22
iVillage Member
Registered: 02-10-2004
Sat, 03-13-2004 - 2:55am
Hi, Welcome!

I have an older house and like the other poster said, I just repainted it. I don't know how long you have owned your home, but chances are the previous owners have already done this too, so you probably have a couple of layers on the walls already. My pediatrician also tests my son every now and then for lead, because he knows we have an older house(just to be safe he says). Don't worry too much, everything should be fine! :)

Glad you have joined us!

AJ

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-26-2003
Sun, 03-14-2004 - 3:44pm
Thanks everyone for your responses and info. Sometimes I think it would be better if I could work and we could live in a nicer home, but then I think that what children really want is love and attention, not material things. It is hard though, you want the best for them. Thanks again.