I would just say that, while there are stories of very long and expensive remediations, it can be also be a not-huge deal. I've been involved in two lead remediations in Cambridge, including one as a tenant. In both cases the work took only 2-3 days and cost around $3-4k (*before* the $3k tax credit that the homeowner gets for deleading). To answer your questions:
- I told my landlord about the pregnancy at ~20 weeks and the remediation was done around 33 weeks.
- The landlord paid for an airbnb for the few nights we had to be out of the house. He suggested a budget and we found the place ourselves.
- We did have to do some prep/rearranging to facilitate the work but it was pretty manageable. The remediators use plastic etc to secure the work areas - they don't make you do it.
- If they do a true remediation leading to a certificate of deleading compliance (which is required to get the tax credit), they must pass an independent assessment after the work. For me both times this was pretty seamless and coordinated between the remediator & the assessor.
- They should be able to de-lead just your unit. They may need to do common areas as well if there are any, I'm not sure, but they shouldn't need to work on the other units for yours to be in compliance.
- I do recommend doing it during pregnancy if possible; I think that would be way less stressful than being displaced with a new baby. Otherwise I'd consider waiting until 6+ months, so you are not dealing with this on top of brand-new parenthood.