You can easily do it yourself. It is very time consuming, but the skills are not hard to master. I have no idea how expensive it would be to hire someone, but I expect it could be very pricey due the time element and the hazardous waste issue with the lead.

Do you have small children in the house? If not, the lead issue is a little less urgent.

You are correct that you can control lead dust by providing and maintainng an intact coating over lead paint, along with above average attention to good houisekeeping.

The short version of the process for handling your windows goes like this:

Remove the sashes;

Remove the putty holding the glass in;

Remove the glass;

Remove the residual putty and then the paint;

Tidy-up the sashes, paint on a layer of linseed oil;

(While you're at it rout out a channel for weatherstripping if you need to;)

Prime the sashes;

Reputty and re glaze;

Paint two coats;

Reinstall windows;

Oh, and meanwhile strip, prime and repaint wondow trim indoors and out;

Install weatherstripping, if necessary.

OK, are you feeling faint of heart, now? The good news is that you can do one window at a time and stretch the project over several summers.

Once it's done you should be good (with regular re-painting as necessary) for another 75 years or more, so it is worth doing.

There are several good resources to teach you the skills if you're interested in knowing more.

In all, I figure my 2 over 2, double hung windows take about two working days per window. Obviously this is spread in small blocks over multiple days since you have to wait for things to dry.

Let us know if you need some leads to good writtern resources on how to do this....
Molly~

Hmmm. From Molly's much more informed reply, seems like I very low ballparked your question in the other forum. Sorry 'bout that! Does sound like a huge job, but as she mentioned, well worth it and it can be spread out over several months.

If this is a DIY project, I would estimate one month per window. If you would like to continue working over the winter, it is possible to seal the opening with a storm window. However, if you are going to use a chemical stripper, that contains methylene chloride, then you will want to limit your window restoration to the warmer months. Chemical stripping should be done outdoors, or on an open porch, with a continuous supply of fresh air.

OK, I had more time to re-read the OP, and another question has occurred to me. Why do you think you need to strip and refinish the windows? Unless the panes are falling out, why not simply re-paint as necessary? That would not involve removing the sashes (actually that's on of the easiest parts, but it sounds daunting) or removing the glass and reglazing (that's one of the hardest and most time consuming parts).

Anyway, I hope I haven't confused you too much. Care to tell us why you thiunk you need to strip and refinish in the first place?

Molly~

As I understand it, the big lead paint problem is that paint dust and chips wear off from the place on the window where the wood scrapes on the wood when you open and close the window. So the first thing I am worried about is how to deal with that problem, and I understood that it wasn't enough just to encapsulate old lead paint in that case because its a high wear and tear area, so I assumed that I would have to at least strip off a inch wide strip around the edges of the window so that all the paint underneath was gone. If there is an encapsulating paint that is guaranteed even for the parts of the window that scrape, I would be glad to hear about it. The second problem that is separate from that one: is the issue of whether I need to take out all the pains of glass and re-putty them. The inspector said that it should be done sometime to improve energy efficiency, but it might not have to be done right away. We plan to put in new storm windows at some point because the old one's look terrible. The third problem is do I have to take apart the entire window frame in order to get the window out to do with work, or can I pull the window out without damaging the frame?

Best,

Soplisist

The window frame will have to be partially disassembled in order to remove the upper and lower sashes. It will be much easier to remove old paint from the frame with the sashes out.

I am not going to discourage you from undertaking such a project, but I am not going to encourage you, either. I will say this. By the time you are done, you will be highly skilled at glazing windows, you will know all about various paints and wood preservatives, and you will likely know your way around a table saw.

Another thing to look into is your local codes and inspector issues. As I own a door and window company we also deal with it daily. Some cities are very strict on what you can and can't do. Others don't give a hoot at all. Just be safe and careful!

Before getting worked up have a sample tested for lead. Lead paint was expensive stuff and not used in many houses. Lead acetate was a gloss improver and drier to improve the paint film. The old name for lead acetate is ÂSugar of leadÂ. It tastes sweet.
Most of the EPA data is based on surveys of large cities and older housing that has moved from high end to lower end. There have been arguments about the extension of this data to all housing for a long time.
The drop in childhood blood lead levels tracks exactly with the end of leaded gasoline (lead tetraethyl was used as a knock reducer).

5 years ago our (then) 16 month old daughter was diagnosed with lead poisoning. We live in an 1882 home-- The poisoning occurred as we were removing lead from our home. We were not stripping onsite-- but the stripped doors were rehung before they were repainted.

I have to disagree w/ brickeye on one point: how common lead was in old houses. All of the houses tested in our Borough in the past year have shown lead and all, except for one or possibly two, were never high end homes, they were simply pedestrian worker houses. I think you'll find it's ubiquitous in anything older than the early 1970s. Deidre, I do hope your daughter has recovered.

"I think you'll find it's ubiquitous in anything older than the early 1970s."

Funny, in 20+ years in Northern Virginia working on hundreds of houses from 1770s in Alexandria to some new houses, I have only had lead found in about 20-30 houses. All were at least 80 years old. Lead containing paint has always been expensive paint. Were the houses in your area 'factory' houses origianlly bult and owned by a factory for workers? Some of these were actually rahter well built, probably the reason they are still standing.
Washington, DC has a lead problem in children, but the Doctors in Norther Virginia laugh when my daughter needs a lead test for DC daycare. They cannot remember the last time they saw a raised lead level.

Hmm, brickeye, I don't have that number of houses under my belt, but here in PA, from NW all the way to Philly our CDBG programs have been finding lead. Seems like there's a higher level in the cities, but that could be because the properties were not as well taken care of and the interior paint is older.

I wonder if there is a higher level in the lead because of the climate? Wouldn't that make sense? We have a pretty harsh winter comparatively speaking. So perhaps in some areas it was not a $$$ issue, but a performance issue.

No, in my little town they're not true factory builts in the traditional sense of the word. It was my lazy Inet way of saying we don't have great housing stock and never did. The good times came late and left early. Well, let me rephrase that a bit. SOME of the housing stock was well built, but there wasn't a huge emphasis on style (hence $$ wasn't really spent on the finer dets).

Anway, there is lead in them thar houses, at least here, if not there.

1.3 tons of plaster went to the landfill today! Windows were started yesterday. The old glazing compound has been a bear to remove. I'm using a heat gun on the paint and am working outside where there is a good breeze blowing. I'm on the third sash now and hope to have both windows totally stipped and primed by tomorrow afternoon. I'll put the glass back in the next day. If I can continue at this rate and the weather holds, I should be able to easily complete two windows in a week. I think it's pretty pleasant work if you have the time and a workshop or designated space.

You might want to consider looking into the Silent Paint Remover (try silentpainterremover.com, I think). As I recall, it's a tool that uses infra-red technology at lower temps than a regular heat gun thereby reducing some of the airborne lead issues. My husband and I purchased it for paint removal of our interior trim and found it quite handy. Not cheap (think it runs in $450ish), but for lots of removal it's worth the investment. Piece of cake to operate.

On the lead issue, I will mention that my daughter (2 years at the time) too tested positive for elevated lead levels. It ocurred right after a mostly DIY kitchen rehab. Sadly, we had taken lots of precautionery measures before the project to ensure that this wouldn't happen (hepa vacuum, lots of clean up after work sessions -- most of which occurred outside, thick plastic'ing off any holes to common areas, and some other less known measures (following a diet high in iron and calcium) to ensure that her lead levels remained low. We live in Norfolk, VA where most house are 'old' and I know a handful of kids in our neighborhood who have tested positive for lead poisoning. And we live in what has always been a relatively modest neighborhood.

While I do not tend to be an alarmist when it comes to all the old house issues (asbestos and lead to name two), it is something to give thoughful consideration to especially when kids are involved.

There is more lead in solder used for copper plumbing than any window dust occuring and its more likely to be the true source of lead poisoning in anyone.