I'm remodeling a CT room in a hospital & it has lead lined drywall that I've got to hang & finish. I've never messed with it before, what do y'all think is the best way to cut it?
Thanks,
Jim
I have no idea. I demo'd some of that stuff, it SUCKED. I cant even imagine what the epa wants you to do to install it. Sounds like $750 per sheet to me..
You can hang the lead by itself( if that is specd as an option or can get approved) it comes on roll, real heavy, but need a longer screw for the drywall after. You cut with a knife
I worked on a Hospital upgrade, totally gutted and refitted. In certain procedure rooms with Xray facilities they used lead lined plasterboard. Our outlet boxes had to be screwed down onto 2mm lead foil which was folded up behind them to prevent radiation escaping through the electrical and network outlets. The plasterboard didnt seem to any more difficult to cut with a normal jab saw when we had to cut open buried boxes...
Thanks y'all. With it being as soft as it is I kinda thought it would be fairly simple to cut but I didn't know for sure, I was hoping anyway.
I started demo on the room yesterday and what a PITA!! There's 1/8" on the walls now, heavy chit. I'm going back with 1/16" as per plans so one sheet will be around 200lbs, not as bad as what I'm taking down.
I started demo on the room yesterday and what a PITA!! There's 1/8" on the walls now, heavy chit. I'm going back with 1/16" as per plans so one sheet will be around 200lbs, not as bad as what I'm taking down.
I'm also interested to hear how this is done under RRP as it contains lead. Do you have to be RRP compliant to install it as well as remove it?
Just spoke to me mate who does a lot of this kind of work. I knew some of this but he said it don't require nothing under RRP even when installed in residential applications. He said just like stuff like floor coverings, bathtubs, pipe work etc etc He said under commercial the demo has to be done under OHSA's hazardous materials removal section for radio active waste. He said he ain't had to demo it for years so the laws could be much stricter now that Lead is also considered hazardous.
Did the same thing in a chiropractors office once. If I remember right we cut it with a utility knife. Just unrolled it and had another guy to help hoist that stuff up.
I always wondered about the X rays transferring through the screws. We just used reg. drywall screws.
I don't think the RRP has anything to do with it. It's basically encapsulated behind 1/2" of rock. No lead dust can be generated.
One thing you have to consider is that there is a difference between using lead as a solid sheet of material vs. it being in paint, gasoline, or any other substance where it is in particle form and can be inadvertently inhaled.
Not really any different at all. The lead is encapsulated in all the stuff it's in. It only gets released when it's destroyed. If you burnt fuel it's released, cut paint with a circuler saw its released, cut lead lined drywall with a circuler saw its released. Same goes for floor coverings and bathtubs. All this stuff is safe until its messed with. But there's vastly more lead in lead lined drywall than paint. Be curious to know RRP stance on this stuff when in residential, prob be the same as floor covers and bathtubs. Even they admit that the law not covering them to things is silly. One of them I spoke to said that may be added soon though as its come up a lot lately.
The walls I tore down did not have screw caps and the box penetrations were not wrapped! :blink:
This hospital has been around a long time too. If only them nurses over the years knew.......
I can tell ya from the last two I worked on one is only 4 or 5 years old and the other is probably 30...neither one had boxes wrapped. Not to mention there was nothing special in the ceiling...what about the people above?
I honestly can't remember if we were given the disks or not. But it did ring a bell because we had a dickens of a time finishing the seams as the tape showed in several spots after a sand.
I can't imagine how to make a repair if a gurney makes a hole in the wall. :sad:
Not really any different at all. The lead is encapsulated in all the stuff it's in. It only gets released when it's destroyed. If you burnt fuel it's released, cut paint with a circuler saw its released, cut lead lined drywall with a circuler saw its released. Same goes for floor coverings and bathtubs. All this stuff is safe until its messed with. But there's vastly more lead in lead lined drywall than paint. Be curious to know RRP stance on this stuff when in residential, prob be the same as floor covers and bathtubs. Even they admit that the law not covering them to things is silly. One of them I spoke to said that may be added soon though as its come up a lot lately.
I have only ever cut it with shears when we done flashing and it cuts easy. The dust from the cut gotta go somewhere when cut with a saw. I'm sure it dont come of in chunks. Just like cutting allow with a blade. Your left with a micro fine dust that sits in the air for some time. Bet the same happens with lead. Not that anyone would be stupid enough to cut lead with a saw but I'm sure it happens.
X-rays are like light. You turn it on there is light, you turn it off there is no light. There is no residual remaining.
If you are talking about alpha and beta radiation then there can be residual because they are particles that get stuck and remain.
Just like the fear when food was being radiated by cobalt 60. People were freaking out expecting radioactive food when there is no chance of that ever happening.
About one of my first jobs (20 yrs ago) was at the va hospital.We had lead lined drywall,lead hollow core jambs and lead doors.We was working on the 3rd floor and they would only allow us to stack 6 sheets per pile because it was so heavy.
It was a good thing i was young or mite have got out of the trade after that job.
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