For facility managers, a properly executed encasement of surfaces with damaged lead-based paint can present a significant savings over removal. Today we are going to look a little more closely at these savings in the real world.
A military base is almost ideal for conducting head to head comparisons of painting and coating techniques, because often an installation has many identical or near identical structures. With the structural differences factored out, the real advantages of various techniques have a chance to shine.
In 2001, the Fort Ord Reuse Authority undertook an extensive renovation of the buildings and facilities on the base. As part of the project, some buildings were subjected to standard removal techniques for lead-based paint, while other buildings were encapsulated. Compared to the standard removal in a similar sized building, the savings granted by encapsulation were almost 25 percent. The savings remained fairly consistent across a range of encapsulation products.
Previous encapsulation experience strongly influenced the costs of encapsulation in the Fort Ord project. Encapsulation differs from standard painting in a couple of important ways. Painting contractors who were more familiar with the practices of encapsulation product application were able to perform the job more efficiently, resulting in greater savings.
Since encapsulation differs from standard painting, tomorrow we will take a step by step look at the encapsulation process.
