Recently I was in my doctor's office for a checkup. We were discussing how he was going to make some changes in the office. He mentioned that he had a big problem with lead. I asked him what it was. He said the office used to belong to a radiology group and there was about 5 tons of lead plate in the walls, doors and ceilings that had to be removed. One door alone weighed 900lbs. I asked for dibs on the lead and he told me I could have it if I could haul it off. Now I've got to figure out how!

So you may want to check out some old doctor's offices in your town. Maybe there is an old hospital that is being torn down too. I remember a few years ago when they demolished a local hospital that over 200 overhead and base cabinets plus sinks went down with the wrecking ball. They would have been free for the picking.

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One door alone weighed 900lbs. I asked for dibs on the lead and he told me I could have it if I could haul it off. Now I've got to figure out how!

Get a small, open motorcycle trailer from U-haul and a flat dolly like you see at Lowe's. If the dolly is hard to find, get four of those wheeled dollies they use to move a car around in a garage when there is no engine in the thing. Enlist a few reloading buddies and you'll have the muscle to move it. 900 pounds is not that much if you can get the weight onto four points. There has to be a way to move something the size of a door. My dad was seventy-five when he moved a piece of concrete weighing 700 pounds all by himself. I can see you moving the door on 1.5-inch PVC tubing down the hallway and outside. I helped to move a big gunsafe on 1-inch stuff a few weeks ago. Only problem I can see is how do you get the door off the hinges. Sorry, but the answer to that is above my paygrade...

have you melted down the door yet? i told a buddy about your post tonight when we were casting and he wanted an update.

No, I haven't been able to. After I made that initial post I lost my job of 15 years. The last few weeks have been consumed with job search. There is 20% unemployment in my area so it may take awhile.

He is in no hurry on the teardown/salvage so I have some time to play with. I believe the lead is installed in manageable plates, so I should be able to unscrew them and stack on a pallet. The name of the door manufacturer is on the jamb end and I plan to call them to see exactly how they handle those things. I'm thinking they brought the door in as a hollow core, installed the plates and glued a veneer on it. The door is just the tip of the iceberg - remember there is another 4 1/2 tons in the walls and ceilings.

You might consider a side business, if only temporary in selling lead!

Mark

I've had several sheets of lead from an old X-Ray room. IIRC most of it came out in sheets no larger than 3' x 3' (about 1/8” thick)

With the spot price of lead being over a $1 a pound you might considering getting the lead out! lol.

Seriously, there are scores of people who would jump at this opportunity. If you don't remove it someone will and fast.

do it the same way they move gun safes.... ...... golf balls....

Contact your local Pikey's, they'll get it done for ya!

Not trying to or cause undue concern. Will you need a hazardous materials permit to handle and haul this door and its components?

Andy

If nothing else works, you an always use 3"or 4" diameter pipe pieces about 3' kong as rollers. I have moved a 1-ton vault that way by myself numerous times as I hauled it around from one home to another in Arizona, then all the way to two different homes here in Oregon. For a door you'll need 4 pieces of pipe...one at each end of the door and one in the middle (and one spare). You'll also need about a 6' steel ice chisel, or something like that as a pry bar to pry and hold the end of the door off the floor while you put the first piece of pipe under it.

Simply pry up one endof the door, using the bar with one of the pieces of pipe as a fulcrum, and put a second piece of the pipe under that end. Then roll the door about 24-30" along the top of the pipe, using the bar to lever it along. Then put a third piece of the pipe under the door end which is up in the air. Now lever the door along until it is resting on top both of the pieces of pipe, with the door balanced on top of both of them. You now have a piece of pipe at one end and another in about the middle, with the door on both of them. At this point you can go lift the other end and put a piece of pipe under it with your pry bar's help.

Once you have the door on top of all three pieces, you can roll it over just about any smooth surface... Go slowly, and as the "back end" of the door comes off a piece of pipe, grab the fourth piece, run around to the leading end of the door, and put the pipe under it...

Now you can shove the door along very easily, always having it resting on three pieces of pipe, with a fourth piece ready to shove under the front. Takes longer to tell it than to do it.

The first thing I would find out, however, is whether the lead in the door is all one piece. It likely is sheet lead, not one monolithic piece of lead. If it is sheet lead, you likely need only to rip the door apart and carry the sheets individually. Ditto the walls.

Good luck. Wish I had access to it...

P.S., before you start, scout (and measure side clearances and all elevation changes) of the whole route out to your truck. Particularly look at door frames and transoms. Make sure to use pipe larger diameter than the greatest amount of rise or fall of any sudden drops in the floor surface, as you don't want to crush a bunch of door transoms and be faced with replacing them.

You can also cut up lead into manageable chunks with various kinds of power saws, but be absolutely sure to mask up if you choose that route, and to vacuum carefully with a well-filtered vac each time before you leave.

Also, if you have to cross any ceramic tile floors (French or Spanish "pavers", for instance), get a couple of sheets of steel plate or something similar for the pipe to roll on, so you don't crush or crack the tiles.

Edited to Add: The best thing, if you can find them, is piano-mover's dollies. If you can find piano-movers in your local area, maybe you can arrange to rent a pair of their dollies... over night when the movers aren't working, if need be. Attach a dolly to each end of the door and just wheel it out like it was nothing.

The best way.......hire a few Iron Workers! They will get the job done....right quick.

lead is there to absorb the radiation of the exrays! you may want to check it to that, you may have a new source of glow in the dark bullets! LOL

please tell me you have salvaged this lead.

I recently ran into a bunch myself. Some was in doors and some sandwiched between drywall sheets. It ended up being just a tad softer then wheel weights. What i did to cut it up was use my old chainsaw. It cut through it like butter. I cut it into pieces i could handle and then when i got it home i used the saw to cut it in strips and then pealed it out and rolled in into sizes that would fit in the smelting pot. It cut up well over a 1000lbs like that and the chain is still going strong. Its messy though.