LESLIE: Nick in Alabama needs some help in the basement. What’s going on at your money pit?
TOM: OK.
NICK: I’ve got an older house and, as you know, you don’t want to – I’ve read all the abatement rules and all that. But in places where you cannot scrape or clean or whatever, is there a primer or an overcoat on the market that you can put over that would safely seal the lead paint under it?
TOM: Yeah, there’s two techniques: one is removal; the other one is encapsulation and that’s what you’re talking about.
NICK: Right.
TOM: And there are primers that are designed specifically to encapsulate lead paint.
LESLIE: You know, Nick, there’s one actually online that you can find called Nansulate and the website is Nansulate.com. It’s a little bit pricey. You’re looking at about $80 for a gallon and almost $400 for a five-gallon pail.
TOM: And Nick, if you have kids that you’re real concerned about, there’s another encapsulating paint called Child Guard and what’s different about Child Guard is it has an additive called Bitrex which basically makes the coating bitter. So if any kid tried to taste any of that paint at any point in time in the future, it would have a very, very bad taste to it.
So the products are out there. They’re called encapsulants and that’s the way to coat that lead paint so you get a nice, neutral surface and you can go from there.
NICK: OK. That’s good. Well, that’s all I need to know.
TOM: Nick, thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
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