Homes built before 1978
The rules for older paint, in writing
Burlington is full of houses older than 1978. Paint in a house of that age is treated as lead paint unless a test says otherwise, and federal rules cover paid work that disturbs it.
The rules require the firm to be certified and a certified renovator to lead the job. Our firm number is under Credentials on the About page. The work practices below go on every estimate for an older house.
On every older house
What changes on the job
Sealed work area
The room is closed with plastic, the floor is covered, and doors and vents are sealed.
Wet scraping, not dry sanding
Paint is scraped wet or vacuumed with a HEPA vacuum. No dry sanding, no heat gun, no open flame.
Cleaned and checked
The room is cleaned and checked before the plastic comes down, and you get the cleaning verification in writing.
A written plan
The work practices are on your estimate, along with the data sheets for the products.
About older houses
My house was built before 1978. What changes?
Federal rules apply to paid work that disturbs paint in homes and child-occupied buildings built before 1978: the firm has to be certified by the EPA under its Renovation, Repair and Painting rule, and a certified renovator has to lead the job. Paint in a house of that age is treated as lead paint unless a test says otherwise. The work area is sealed with plastic, paint is wet-scraped or vacuumed rather than dry-sanded, and the floors are cleaned and checked before the room is handed back. Our firm number is listed under Credentials.
Do you test for lead first?
We can. A test tells you what is in your walls. Without one, we treat paint in a house of that age as lead paint and use the older-paint work practices.
Does it cost more?
The work practices take time, and the estimate says so, line by line. We never skip them to lower a number.
An older house, and a plan for it
We walk the house, say what the rules mean for it and write the practices into the estimate.