Are you are planning a remodeling job? Be sure to consider the dangers of lead-based paints before you start. A home renovation that disturbs lead-based paint can release dangerous amounts of lead dust into the air in the home. Home remodeling is a frequent cause of lead poisoning and creates special risks for young children and women who are pregnant.
If you have a newer home the chances are slim that you have lead based paint to contend with since the government’s Consumer Product Safety Commission banned lead paint in 1977. With an older home, you need to check for lead and be aware of new regulations that will affect your plans. The EPA has recently issued strict new lead guidelines for homes built before 1978. Any contractor, carpenter, painter, electrician, plumber, window repairperson or maintenance worker has to follow strict guidelines to minimize lead-paint exposure.
This could have a big impact on the cost of your next home improvement. The threshold for the new rules is whether the project will disturb more than 6 interior square feet of paint or 20 exterior square feet of paint. That is an extremely low threshold.
The new guidelines mandate that:
- Contractors must be certified in lead-safe work practices including taking an eight-hour class.
- The area of the property being renovated must be contained to control the spread of dust and debris to other areas of the structure being renovated. For example, the work area must be sealed in plastic sheeting.
- The entrance of the work area must be posted with a warning sign.
- Special sanders and HEPA (high-efficiency particulate air) vacuums will be needed. All paint dust must be tripled bagged and properly disposed of.
- Companies who fail to comply with the regulations may face penalties as high as $37,500 per violation, per day!
So be prepared for sticker shock if your home was built before 1978 and you plan to use a contractor for your project. To comply with the new regulations, those working on older sites will need to invest in certification, lead-testing kits, tools, plastic sheeting, respirators, protective clothing and other lead-safety materials. And each job will take the contractor more time.
The rules do not apply to homeowners who work on their own homes — only to people paying someone else to do the work. But don’t risk exposure just to save a few bucks.
So what can you do? If you can avoid disturbing painted surfaces they can be sealed with good quality paint or covered with another material. Or you could have a certified inspector perform an EPA endorsed lead paint test to determine if you actually have a lead problem.
On the bright side, nothing in the new regulations requires homeowners to evaluate existing properties for lead or to have existing lead removed. But some remodeling and repair projects are unavoidable, so if you have a pre-1978 home be prepared to get the lead out.
