RRP Certification?

[thisvacuumsucks]

is anyone here RRP Certified and take it seriously? if so, I would love to bounce some questions off of you. I'm a homeowner in a house with lead paint with a 1-year old and a pregnant wife.

Thanks.

 

[Rob Z]

Hello,

I let my certification expire because I am out of the remodeling business. But my employees and I  did take it seriously back when we were still working.  If you have any questions for me I'll do my best to answer them.

 

[thisvacuumsucks]

Hello,

I let my certification expire because I am out of the remodeling business. But my employees and I  did take it seriously back when we were still working.  If you have any questions for me I'll do my best to answer them.

great- thanks!

i have quite a few but the two most prudent and related to Festool are:

1. if i change out the hose (CT 15) to a non Festool hose, say a Ridgid, does that negate the HEPA? or, in other words, does the Festool hose have any type of HEPA filtration/rating?

2. is it safe to wet vac water that was used to clean up lead floors? can i assume the lead dust is entrapped within the water/soap?

thank you!

 

[woodferret]

Hello,

I let my certification expire because I am out of the remodeling business. But my employees and I  did take it seriously back when we were still working.  If you have any questions for me I'll do my best to answer them.

great- thanks!

i have quite a few but the two most prudent and related to Festool are:

1. if i change out the hose (CT 15) to a non Festool hose, say a Ridgid, does that negate the HEPA? or, in other words, does the Festool hose have any type of HEPA filtration/rating?

2. is it safe to wet vac water that was used to clean up lead floors? can i assume the lead dust is entrapped within the water/soap?

thank you!

Not RRP certified so I can only answer in a technical manner.  HEPA cert for an object requires ALL airflow to go through the filter.  So no-hassle legally, use Festool hose as that's the only certified connection.  From an realistic engineering perspective, using a non-certified hose is ok but it must make a good seal.  No gaffer's tape, no electrical tape, no adapters.

Clean up of wet sanding, demo debris should be a manual process with sponge and buckets.  The vacuum pressure and general wet-vac design will create foam, where the lead particles can be on the surface of said bubbles.  The Festool wet-sponge is a foam breaker; it is only designed to protect the motor.  Once it breaks a bubble, the particulates are aerosolized and dispersed past the engine housing and into the air.  So no, it's not entrapped.

 

[Rob Z]

Hello,

For Q#1, and in addition to what Woodferret posted, the "Official" answer is that a HEPA-certified vac must be used to clean up dust that contains lead.  Festool would say that their vac no longer is HEPA-certified if it's modified in any way.

With that said, I don't think the hose itself has anything to do with HEPA rating other than , as Woodferret noted, the hose is designed to have a good seal where it connects to the machine. It's anyone's guess as to whether or not a Ridgid hose really does perform as well as the OEM hose from Festool.  From my perspective, I wouldn't risk it by using a non-Festool hose.

Did you mean that there is lead being removed from floors? Or, that lead has gotten on the floor while work was being done on the walls and ceilings?  If you detail what the work is to be done then there might be some suggestions how to prepare the site to make clean up easier for you.

Also, have you had a certified lab do an evaluation of the various surfaces in your house?

How old is your house?

[/quote]

great- thanks!

i have quite a few but the two most prudent and related to Festool are:

1. if i change out the hose (CT 15) to a non Festool hose, say a Ridgid, does that negate the HEPA? or, in other words, does the Festool hose have any type of HEPA filtration/rating?

2. is it safe to wet vac water that was used to clean up lead floors? can i assume the lead dust is entrapped within the water/soap?

thank you!
[/quote]

 

[thisvacuumsucks]

Hello,

I let my certification expire because I am out of the remodeling business. But my employees and I  did take it seriously back when we were still working.  If you have any questions for me I'll do my best to answer them.

great- thanks!

i have quite a few but the two most prudent and related to Festool are:

1. if i change out the hose (CT 15) to a non Festool hose, say a Ridgid, does that negate the HEPA? or, in other words, does the Festool hose have any type of HEPA filtration/rating?

2. is it safe to wet vac water that was used to clean up lead floors? can i assume the lead dust is entrapped within the water/soap?

thank you!

Not RRP certified so I can only answer in a technical manner.  HEPA cert for an object requires ALL airflow to go through the filter.  So no-hassle legally, use Festool hose as that's the only certified connection.  From an realistic engineering perspective, using a non-certified hose is ok but it must make a good seal.  No gaffer's tape, no electrical tape, no adapters.

Clean up of wet sanding, demo debris should be a manual process with sponge and buckets.  The vacuum pressure and general wet-vac design will create foam, where the lead particles can be on the surface of said bubbles.  The Festool wet-sponge is a foam breaker; it is only designed to protect the motor.  Once it breaks a bubble, the particulates are aerosolized and dispersed past the engine housing and into the air.  So no, it's not entrapped.

Definitely not saying you’re wrong but on the wet cleanup part the Minnesota Health Department says:

Wet wash the entire work area with a cleaning solution according to the directions on the container. Be sure to wear waterproof rubber gloves when you wet wash the area. Also, daily wet washing will remove harmful lead dust while you complete the remodeling project.
Use a wet/dry vacuum to vacuum up the cleaning solution. Be sure to keep about two inches of water in the bottom of the canister. The water will help to hold the lead dust in. The wet/dry vacuum should be used only to vacuum up the wash or rinse water, not to pick up dry dust and paint chips.

 

[Rob Z]

I've been thinking about your Q#2 and trying to remember what was covered in the one day training class for RRP.  For large amounts of water (such as power washing siding) the instructions were to set up plastic tarps and channel all the water to a sump, then collect in barrels or buckets. We didn't do any power washing,  but this does sound like a real hassle. [eek]  This approach isn't practical for a floor, so wet mopping is probably the easiest  thing to do, with the mop end going in with other RRP stuff once you're finished.  This would follow along with what Woodferret said about using sponges.

I don't recall any problem however with using the sponge filter thingy because the water contained the lead dust, and the water stayed in the tub of the vac. The collected water could be (according to these EPA trainers) dumped down the drain.  I don't recall the trainers saying anything about the wet filter method being  a problem, but that was more than ten years ago and the memory fades  [big grin].