Reddit mentions of Vacmaster Pro 8 gallon Certified Hepa Filtration Wet/Dry Vac

Your plan is about as wrong as it could possibly be. I'm not trying to be an asshole but for the sake of your kid, I am being intentionally blunt.

Hitting it with a dremel is going to fling dust everywhere.

An ordinary shop vac with a HEPA filter is not safe for use with lead paint. You need an EPA RRP-certified HEPA vacuum like this one which is the cheapest that I know of. If you own an old house it's a good purchase and you should use it liberally whenever you cut into a wall or disturb things that may contain lead paint.

The EPA has lots of information available about how to work with lead paint. Read up.

I am currently dealing with this. I had to take down a small portion of a plaster ceiling and dust covered the entire house. I also did some small wall repairs that caused a layer of dust on every surface of my house. I went on a research tear (internet and talked to every expert I know as I work in the hvac industry). Here’s what I learned and what I now do to protect me and my family:

First, some facts:

• Lead is not your only enemy. When you drill into a wall you could potentially be drilling into asbestos and pulling that out from behind the wall and into the air. (Asbestos was banned in 1970’s, so your house almost definitely has some hidden in the walls)
  
• Lead is heavy and falls to the floor pretty fast, so inhalation isn’t much of a concern except for you when you’re doing the job. The biggest risk there is if you have pets or kids playing on the floor where the dust eventually settles.
  
• Asbestos is extremely light and will hang in the air for 2-3 days before finally settling.
  
• People who develop asbestos related lung disease are those who inhaled large quantities of asbestos on the job for decades without taking proper precaution (because they didn’t know. Bummer.). That’s not to say you shouldn’t protect yourself on the job, but you also shouldn’t lose sleep about dying of mesothelioma.
  
• The size of a lead atom: 1 micron
  
• the size of asbestos particles: .3 to .7 microns
  
• NOT ALL HEPA FILTERS ARE CREATED EQUAL. You must read the specification for the hepa filter you plan to buy. If it doesn’t filter out particles <= .3 microns - or doesn’t specify information on the particle size - don’t buy it for the purpose of filtering lead and asbestos. All you’ll be doing is kicking it back up into the air.
  
• Most household hepa vacuum cleaners are rated for allergens (dander, etc) and NOT lead and asbestos particles.
  
  With that, when you’re on the job, here’s what you do:
  
  
• Get yourself a proper mask to work with that supports filters you can change. Make sure you get the right filters. They must be specifically rated for lead and asbestos:
  
  This 3M face mask with 2091 filters will protect you:
  
  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OZZZ7JU
  
  If you buy filters other than 9021 make sure you read the specification to ensue that they’re rated for particles at least as small as .3 microns.
  
  
• Buy a shop vac with an appropriate hepa filter that also supports tool attachments. I use this one and it works amazing:
  
  Vacmaster 8 Gallon HEPA
  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007ULBA4W
  
  It’s rated for the type of work we’re doing. You can attach a sander to it and it’ll suck up most of the dust before it hits the floor/air. It’s not 100%, but It’s way better than 0%. It’s also the most affordable one I could find.
  
  
• Remove or cover any furniture in the room (big jobs or sanding)
  
  
• Create negative air pressure in rooms where you’re going to create a lot of dust. This is easier than it sounds. You basically cover all doorways with plastic and duct tape and get a fan blowing out of a window. You can buy plastic sheets with zippers so you can easily go in and out of the room (try to limit this, though, and strip off your outer layer of clothes before leaving the room if you’ve created a lot of dust). You know you have negative air pressure when you turn on your fan and he plastic sheets are getting sucked into the room instead of pushed out. This will ensure that 90% of the dust is blown outside where it can safely spread out into the atmosphere.
  
  Here’s a short video on what negative air looks like:
  
  https://youtu.be/JvAOVT9CVVY
  
  
• if your super paranoid, you can ask your family to leave while you do the work.
  
  Now, when you’re done with the work, it’s time to clean up. Here’s the safest way to do that:
  
  

1. Put an air purifier with a properly rated hepa filter in the room and leave it for a day. This will let the dust settle while clearing the air of lingering dust. Austin air makes great air purifiers for this kind of dust, but they’re pricey)
   
2. Water reduces dust particles from being kicked up in the air by 80-90%. All you need to do is use a spray mist (use pump bottle that hair dressers use) to wet all surfaces where dust can settle. It doesn’t need to be soaked, just misted.
   
3. Use your hepa shop vac to vacuum up the dust from everywhere you just sprayed.
   
4. Mist the plastic you used to seal off the room.
   
5. Slowly roll up the plastic as you remove it so that the part that was inside the room is getting covered. Put directly into a contractor bag, seal it and throw it away.
   
6. Leave the air purifier running for a few days.
   
   Hope this helps!!
   
   Edit: changed when asbestos was banned from 1978 to the 1970s as it was phased out until 1980.

This is the least expensive real hepa vac I was able to find. Filters and bags get expensive.

Like others have said, read the EPA guide.

Yes. Keep kids away, lay a tarp under the area to catch anything, wear an N100 mask while scraping, clean up any flakes with a RRP HEPA vac, and prime with Ecobond or INSL-X prior to painting. As you're an adult, lead isn't gonna do much harm to you. But you don't want kids anywhere near by.

This vac is the one I have and is half the price.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B007ULBA4W/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I also have an old house and a young kid (7, 4, 2). My toddler has gotten a positive lead test after living here for about a year. I work from home, so he's basically here with me 24/7. 7 micrograms per deciliter, which is two over the current limit. For what it's worth, the old limit was 10 (changed in 2013) and neither the Department of Health or his pediatrician is particularly concerned.

He's getting a second test in a couple of weeks, which will be about 3 months since his initial positive test.

I had knob and tube replaced, which involved cutting into all the walls. Dust was everywhere and nothing was sealed off when the cuts were made in the walls. A cleaning service did come out and clean the entire house after the renovation was complete, which took 3 full days. Since the positive test, I've hired a cleaning service to come out every other week, since one of the main recommendations is to wipe down surfaces that might be contaminated with lead dust.

What about using a HEPA rated shop vac? I've been considering getting one of these for vacuuming after home improvement projects now that I have a kid.

This is the HEPA vac I saw recommended on reddit when I was searching for posts about lead paint remediation.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B007ULBA4W/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

If you get it on jet.com, they have a 15% off coupon for new users which puts it around $150. I bought through Amazon because I need it here ASAP and jet.com usually takes a week or so to arrive.