Lead Paint Testing in Older Homes: What to Know Before You Paint or Remodel

If your house was built before 1978, assume its older paint layers may contain lead until a test says otherwise, and get it tested before anyone sands, scrapes or cuts into a painted wall. In North Carolina, a contractor paid to disturb that paint has to be a state-certified renovation firm, unless testing shows the paint is lead-free or the job is a small repair.

The question we put before color and sheen

In October an estimate request came in through this site from someone who had just bought a house in Monroe. They wanted every room repainted, closets included, along with the trim and doors and one ceiling. Before we price an interior by text or email, we ask how many colors, what sheen, whether any walls need repairs, and whether the trim goes back white. We also say plainly that a number given without a visit can change once we have seen the rooms.

That list does not include the year the house was built, and the year never comes up on a normal painting checklist. On a home built before 1978 we would put it first. A full repaint of an older house is mostly preparation, and preparation means scraping and sanding, which is exactly the work the lead rules are written around.

What to ask any contractor, us included

A certification is a fact you can check, so check it rather than trusting a badge on a website. Ask:

• Is your firm certified by North Carolina for lead-safe renovation work, and under what name?
• Who on the crew is the certified renovator, and will they be on site?
• Will you test, or assume lead is present and work that way?
• How will the work area be contained, and how do you check the cleanup?
• Which tools are off the table on painted surfaces?

The last one has a clear answer in 40 CFR 745.85: no open-flame burning, no high-speed sanding or grinding unless the machine has a shroud and a HEPA vacuum, and no heat gun at 1,100 degrees Fahrenheit or hotter. A firm doing paid work should also hand you the EPA's Renovate Right pamphlet no more than 60 days before it starts, under 40 CFR 745.84. Getting that pamphlet unprompted is a good sign.

The check itself is quick. North Carolina's Health Hazards Control Unit keeps a public database of certified lead firms and individuals, linked from its RRP page on the state health department site. Search the company name the contractor gives you. We would rather you ask us these five than hire anyone without asking them.

How testing actually works

Which route fits depends on what you need to know.

1. A certified lead-based paint inspector tells you whether the paint contains lead and where. It does not tell you whether that paint is a hazard today.
2. A certified risk assessor tells you whether there is a hazard now, in paint, dust or soil, and what to do about it.
3. Paint chip samples go to a laboratory accredited under the EPA's National Lead Laboratory Accreditation Program. North Carolina's guidance for certified renovators says to test every surface in the project and says samples should generally be at least one square inch, though labs set their own requirements.

The kits on hardware-store shelves are a separate matter. The EPA's testing page says it has recognized three test kits, and that the recognition applies only when a certified renovator uses them. For a homeowner who wants an answer for the whole house, it recommends a certified inspector or risk assessor, and the National Lead Information Center at 1-800-424-5323 can point you to one.

Testing is not required before paid work. The same EPA page says a firm can either test, or assume lead-based paint is present and follow the rule as if it were. On a small job, assuming can be quicker than testing every painted part.

How North Carolina runs the rule

The federal lead rule for renovation work, known as RRP, sits in 40 CFR 745. North Carolina is one of the states the EPA has authorized to run its own program, so here the certification comes from the state rather than from the EPA. The Health Hazards Control Unit says North Carolina requires certification for paid RRP projects that disturb lead-based paint in housing or child-occupied facilities built before 1978.

State law sets how long each certification lasts. Under G.S. 130A-453.25, a renovation firm renews every year and an individual certified renovator every five years. If the certificate you are shown is old, ask for the current one.

Small work has a floor. The federal definition of minor repair and maintenance covers jobs that disturb 6 square feet or less of painted surface per room inside, or 20 square feet or less outside, provided none of the banned methods are used. Window replacement and demolition of painted surfaces never count as minor, whatever the size. Across the state line in Fort Mill, the EPA runs the program itself, since South Carolina is not on its list of authorized states.

How many homes around here are that old

Union County has a smaller share than Mecklenburg, and far fewer in number. The Census Bureau's American Community Survey groups houses by decade, so the nearest line to 1978 is built before 1980.

In Union County that is roughly one home in five. Homes built since 2000 make up over half of the county's housing in the same survey, so for most owners here the year question has a quick answer. If yours is one of the 2,245 counted as built before 1940, the EPA's 87% figure applies to its era.

Living with it, and painting over it

The EPA is calmer about this than most people expect. On its abatement and inspection page it says children can live safely in these homes as long as paint and surfaces are in good condition and kept clean, and that lead-based paint in good condition is, as a rule, not a hazard. On paint that has already failed, the same page is blunt:

Just painting over the paint hazards with regular paint will not permanently address lead-based paint hazards.

The hazards it means are paint that is peeling, chipping or worn by friction at doors and window sills. Intact paint can be repainted. The risk sits in the preparation for it, which is why the rule is written around sanding and scraping rather than around the brush.

If you are doing it yourself, the EPA's RRP program page says the rule does not apply to owners working on their own homes, with three exceptions: part of the house is rented out, a childcare center runs there, or it is being flipped. The same page still points owners to lead-safe practices.

This week, look up the year your house was built on the county tax record. If it is before 1978, decide whether you want a certified inspector first, and ask any painter or remodeler you call, us included, the five questions above before you book anything. What we do inside a house is on our interior painting page and the remodeling page if you want to look, and a remodel that also needs a building permit is covered in permits for a bathroom or kitchen remodel as a separate question.

Questions owners of older homes ask us

Does all paint before 1978 have lead?

No, but enough of it does that the safe move is to assume it. The EPA's testing page puts the share at 87% of homes built before 1940 and 24% of homes built between 1960 and 1978. Only a test tells you about your own walls.

How do I test my paint for lead?

Hire a certified lead inspector or risk assessor, or send paint chips to a lab accredited under the EPA's NLLAP program. The EPA's three recognized test kits count only when a certified renovator uses them, and its own advice to homeowners is to bring in a certified inspector.

Can you just paint over lead paint?

Not as a permanent fix. The EPA says painting over lead-based paint hazards with regular paint will not permanently address them. Intact paint can be repainted with care; peeling paint needs lead-safe preparation first, and the prep is where the dust comes from.

Is it OK to live in a house with lead paint?

Yes, while the paint is intact and kept clean. The EPA says lead-based paint in good condition is not, as a rule, a hazard, and that children can live safely in these homes when surfaces are kept in good condition and clean. The trouble is paint that peels or chips, and friction surfaces like window sills.

I am painting my own house. Does the lead rule apply to me?

Not to the owner doing their own work. North Carolina's law covers work done for pay, and the EPA says its RRP rule does not apply to owners working on their own pre-1978 homes, except where they rent part of it out, run a childcare center there or are flipping it.