Roofing & Exterior
In a Pre-1978 Home, How You Disturb the Old Paint Matters
Repainting older homes with lead-safe work practices — testing suspect paint before we disturb it, containing the work area, and cleaning up with HEPA so lead dust doesn't end up in your soil or living space.
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A home built before 1978
Paint from before 1978 may contain lead. That doesn't mean it's dangerous sitting on the wall — the risk comes when scraping, sanding, or power-washing turns it into dust and chips. On an older home, we assume it's possible until we know otherwise.
Old paint that's chalking, chipping, or being scraped
Peeling and chipping paint on an older home is exactly the condition that spreads lead — into the soil under the eaves, onto the porch, into the beds where kids and pets are. How the prep is handled is the whole safety question.
Kids, pregnancy, or pets in the home
Lead dust matters most where small children and pregnant household members live, because that's who it harms most. If that's your household, the containment and cleanup on an older-home repaint aren't optional details — they're the point.
You don't know what's under the current color
Decades of repaints can hide original lead-based coats under newer ones. Disturbing them brings the old layers back into play. When there's uncertainty, testing before we sand or scrape is how we find out instead of assuming.
Your options
How we work on older homes
On pre-1978 homes we follow lead-safe work practices rather than treating an older repaint like any other. That means testing suspect paint before we disturb it; containing the work area with plastic and ground sheeting to catch chips and dust instead of letting them scatter into the yard; using dust-limiting methods — wet-scraping over open dry power-sanding and high-pressure blasting on lead paint; and cleaning up with HEPA vacuuming and careful debris handling so what comes off the wall doesn't stay in your soil or track into the house. The goal is simple: disturb the old paint without spreading it.
The method
How we do it
- 01
Test before we disturb it
On a pre-1978 home we test suspect paint before scraping or sanding starts, so we know whether lead-safe handling is needed rather than guessing. Knowing what's there decides how we prep.
- 02
Contain the work area
Plastic sheeting and ground cover go down to catch chips and dust before any prep begins, and we use dust-limiting methods — wet-scraping and sanding over dry power tools — so the material stays in the containment, not in your beds and grass.
- 03
Clean up with HEPA, then prime and paint
HEPA vacuuming and careful debris collection clear the work area before we prime and recoat with Sherwin-Williams product. The cleanup is part of the job, not an afterthought — it's what keeps the lead where it can't reach anyone.
Straight numbers
What lead-safe repainting adds
An older-home repaint costs more than a standard one for real reasons: testing, containment setup, dust-limiting prep methods, and thorough HEPA cleanup all take extra material and time. How much depends on how much paint has to be disturbed, the condition it's in, and the size of the home. It's not an upsell — it's the difference between a repaint that leaves lead dust in your yard and one that doesn't. We'll walk you through what the older-home handling adds and why before any work starts.
Where we do this work
Lead-Safe Repainting: straight answers
Does my old paint definitely contain lead?
Not definitely — but if the home predates 1978, it's possible, and the only way to know is to test. Plenty of older homes have lead in the original coats hidden under newer paint. Rather than assume either way, we test suspect areas before disturbing them so the handling matches what's actually there.
Is it dangerous to repaint an older home?
Intact old paint sitting on a wall isn't the hazard — disturbing it is. Scraping, sanding, and power-washing lead paint without care turn it into dust and chips that settle in soil and living space. Following lead-safe work practices — testing, containment, dust-limiting prep, and HEPA cleanup — is how the repaint gets done without creating that hazard.
How do you keep the lead dust out of my yard and house?
Containment and cleanup. We put down plastic and ground sheeting to catch chips before prep starts, use wet methods and hand tools instead of open dry sanding and high-pressure blasting on lead paint, and finish with HEPA vacuuming and careful debris handling. The idea is that what comes off the wall ends up bagged, not in your beds or on the porch.
Why does an older-home repaint cost more?
Because the safe handling is real work: testing, setting up containment, prepping with dust-limiting methods, and doing a thorough HEPA cleanup all add time and material over a standard repaint. We're upfront about what that adds and why. On a home with kids or a pregnancy in it, that difference is exactly where the value is.
Do you follow lead-safe practices on every older home?
We follow lead-safe work practices on pre-1978 homes where the paint we're disturbing may contain lead — that's how we work, not an add-on you have to request. If testing shows the paint we're touching is clear, we prep it as a normal repaint. Where it isn't, the containment and cleanup are standard, because there's no safe shortcut around it.
Get the lead-safe repainting conversation started.
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