# Lead lined drywall



## woodbutchr

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


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## ohiohomedoctor

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..


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## Sir Mixalot

Here ya go http://www.radiationproducts.com/gypsum-board.htm :thumbsup:


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## iDAHOchris

woodbutchr said:


> 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


 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


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## Inner10

It cuts like butter, knife or drywall saw, never hung it but I put AV systems in multiple dental offices that used lead clad drywall.


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## chewy

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...


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## woodbutchr

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.


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## Sir Mixalot

woodbutchr said:


> 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 wonder if there is a chance of radiation exsposure demoing an exisitng lead lined wall that has been exposed to radiation?


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## woodbutchr

I sure the h3ll hope not!


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## The Coastal Craftsman

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.


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## Sir Mixalot

woodbutchr said:


> I sure the h3ll hope not!


Well they do reuse those lead aprons everytime they do an xray. So hopefully not.:thumbsup:


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## Paulie

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.


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## Sir Mixalot

Paulie said:


> I always wondered about the X rays transferring through the screws. We just used reg. drywall screws.


There's a small lead disk that should go over the screw head. :nuke:


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## Big Shoe

Yes, those lead disk are a real pain. You end up floating over those things, there's no way to get them recessed.

Also you would have 2'' wide rolls of it to go behind all the seams and corners.

I have done both rolled lead and the lead board......Always a lot of fun..............Not:laughing:


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## tedanderson

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.


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## woodbutchr

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.......


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## skyhook

Great discussion. :thumbsup:


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## Paulie

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:


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## Inner10

woodbutchr said:


> 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?


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## Sir Mixalot

Inner10 said:


> 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?


Good question. Come to think of it, I don't think the doors were protected on the couple that I have done.:no:


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