[caledonian]

Hey guys, I work in construction and have used this a few times:

It`s an undercoat plaster for Hospital X-Ray wards and Dental Surgeries. It contains small lead particles and a Quartz-based aggregate to help stop harmful Electromagnetic Radiation/Particles from escaping whilst X-Rays are being conducted. Weighs a ton and is quite messy but I think I only had to put on a 25mm coating to fulfil the technical requirements.

I`ve not used it for several years but saw it in the British Gypsum catalogue earlier and thought of you guys here... My dream is to coat a basement room with some of this, should give some decent protection from Alpha/Beta particles?

 

[Wulf23]

Sweet...
What a great idea, thanks for pointing it out.

 

[SCGoodOleBoy]

Would the lead in the stuff be dangerous to people or small children?

 

[caledonian]

I dont think so, it is designed as an undercoat plaster so a thin skim coat would go over the top. Even if left exposed/unskimmed; it has a solid texture and would need scraping to release fragments. The particles are too large to become airborne so no more dangerous than lead shot or fishing weights...

When applying it we use respirators but that is because the Gypsum/Aggregate base is very dusty. There are no hazardous material regulations attached to using this stuff.

 

[Watcher]

That's a good find.

I'm going to think about using that for my inner refuge

 

[caledonian]

Just had a chat with one of the suppliers and he tells me they dont put lead filings in it anymore; they use a Barium-derived aggregate? Apparently it has to be ordered by the pallet but has a short shelf-life (4months) so whatever contractors from recent medical unit jobs should have surplus amounts that they will need to get rid of or take a loss on?

 

[hank2222]

so i wonder if could coat the outside of a underground home with it and let dry then bury the home as need

 

[caledonian]

You`d need to do the inside cos with it being a plaster and not a cement, it wont be weatherproof/waterproof...

It should fix onto bricks/plasterboard/wood and metal lath no problem. You could put a thin skim coat on it and even texture it like Artex for a quick finish.

 

[CH52]

We finished up a job for a new x-ray room, we provided the lead glass for the viewing window. for the walls they used lead lined gypsum wall board