"Get the Lead Out" - The NH Mirror - May 2008

“Get the Lead Out”
(Published in May 2008 issue of the NH Mirror Magazine)

Two months and $50,000 ago, this scenario repeated itself every few daytime hours: from across the room, our 15-month old is spied making a beeline for the window. I morph into SuperMom, crossing the divide in a single bound, shouting “Nooooo!” Success means the toddler is averted from touching the window. Failure results in yet another trip to the sink to wash hands.

Though it sounds like a good therapy session, or at least parenting class might have been in order, what we actually needed was lead remediation. Thus the fabulous journey of home renovation began.

My husband and I were aware of the lead paint when signing the plethora of paperwork at closing. Nearly without exception, every dwelling in our target zone (walkable to downtown and the park) had lead paint and/or asbestos. Fast forward a few months, and the paint previously in good condition seemed to be chipping if you so much as exhaled forcefully. You can imagine what the combined forces of two active young children reaped. Full disclosure here: we are a household whose playroom features a swing and trapeze bar. The windows were the worst, hence our aversion to letting the children even catch a glimpse of the great outdoors.

When our little guy’s lead level came back too high for comfort, the decision to renovate was made. The logistics, timing, and finances resulting from this decision, however, were oftentimes simultaneously harried, scary, and comical.

Realizing our home would be uninhabitable during renovations, the time had come to locate alternate lodging. My parents generously offered their place, I scanned Craigslist for short-term housing, we toyed with the idea of a hotel; all of these were viable and fairly sensible options. However, refusing to take a predictable path, we opted to purchase and temporarily live in an investment property. Just saying that out loud sounds nuts, as the leap from locating to closing on a duplex took place over the course of the same three weeks in which we were finalizing contractors and packing to move.

We quickly selected a lead remediation company with a terrific reputation. Within a few days, every potentially offending piece of lead-painted house was removed, that is, our entire home was gutted – all windows, along with most of the walls, trim, ceilings, did I mention the kitchen had to be ripped out too?

Putting everything back together, predictably, took a bit longer. Less predictable were the projects and expenses that appeared seemingly out of nowhere. The situation was akin to that whack-a-mole game, but instead of wielding a big rubber hammer, problems were attacked with my screaming checkbook. Mice chewed wires making electrical system unsafe? Take that $6,000!

Finally, all of the moles were whacked, the checkbook put away to cool off, and our family came home. Two months later, all of the headaches, expenses, and inconveniences were worth it. Just ask our now 17-month old, whose face is pressed against the window, marveling at Daddy’s “uck” in the driveway.