Beware of this contractor. In March 2014 we moved out of our home to have significant lead abatement work performed which included sanding lead paint from floors, encapsulating leaded paint surfaces, and removing doors for stripping and reinstallation.
The problems began before we moved back into the house. Workers were careless with sloppy painting, dripping all over adjacent surfaces. They tossed cigarette butts all over our yard. They failed to adequately remove paint from some floor surfaces. Worst, we found that they had been dumping dirty buckets of leaded mop water from their cleanup right into our front yard!
In late April we moved back in to the house to find that some surfaces hadn't been cleaned up at all and were covered in layers of lead-containing dust. We also found that workers left dozens of staples used to hang plastic sheeting in the wood trim and walls. When we asked them to remove the staples they haphazardly ripped them out, threw them on the floor, and left the lead paint underneath chipped and exposed.
The contractor also missed areas that should have been stripped of lead paint and were specifically listed on the lead assessment report including an entire door way.
The drywall compound that they applied to our plaster walls was sloppy and they didn't bother to sand the drywall compound so that it was ready for painting until we specifically pointed out the worst spots and asked that they be sanded.
The real problems surfaced about 4 weeks after we had moved back into our house and found that both of our young children's blood lead levels were elevated to levels higher than ever before. It was obvious that the work that was conducted at our property was the culprit.
At this point the MA State Dept. of Public Health became involved because of the health risk to our children and a Post-Compliance Inspection Report revealed that the work conducted did not adequately treat most of the leaded surfaces. There was sufficient concern by the Dept. of Public Health to make
a formal referral to Department of Labor Standards regarding the work
performed by Ultimate Abatement.
The Dept. of Public Health encouraged Ultimate Abatement to refund some of the cost of remedying the failed encapsulant work. The contractor has failed to respond in any meaningful way to that suggestion and has been uncooperative.
From written communications from the Dept. of Public Health to Ultimate Abatement:
"There are so many loose surfaces identified, I am concerned as to why encapsulation was even presented as a viable option to the owner. Based on this report alone, I would never have advised an owner to use an encapsulant in a home where there is so evidently an adhesion issue."
"Encapsulants were applied to surfaces that were not verified as being made intact. In addition, encapsulants were applied in a unit where dust wipes had not yet been taken. Both a significant breach in the inspection and deleading protocol." read more
