The Cincinnati Enquirer
This is the tale of a home on Kinsey Avenue, a 2 1/2-story brick Victorian house, built in Mount Auburn in 1909. The building is a typical Cincinnati starter home, much like thousands of others throughout the city's older neighborhoods. Three bedrooms. Two bathrooms. Hardwood floors. Old wood windows. A full basement. A detached, two-car garage.
Like almost every other house its age, it was originally painted and likely re-painted several times, with lead-based paint.
The house was referred to the lead-paint abatement program in August 1996 by People Working Cooperatively. The house was tested because the owner was seeking a low-interest loan, not because any children living there had lead poisoning.
City records show that an inspection, conducted Sept. 23, 1996, found lead-paint levels exceeding regulatory limits at several locations - every room in the basement and first floor, parts of the second and third floors, even soil contamination caused by chipping paint from a neighbor's detached garage.
Some of the results were striking. Two window wells had more than 100,000 micrograms per square foot. The regulatory limit is 800. Bare soil along drip lines of house and the neighbor's garage exceeded 3,000 parts per million, well above the 2,000 parts per million limit. The kitchen floor tested at 270 micrograms per square foot. The limit is 100.
The required cleanup was detailed in an April 18 "lead-based paint hazard reduction work write-up." The cleanup involves nine separate jobs and must be performed by a licensed lead-paint abatement contractor. The cost was not stated in the documents. When work begins, the family has to move out. The length of time could range up to six weeks, depending mostly on how long it takes to order and receive new windows.
The jobs:
