How to Determine if Your House Has Lead Paint
You probably know by now that breathing in the dust and fumes from lead paint can lead to serious health problems, including lead poisoning. What you may not know, though, is that paints created between 1960 and 1978 often contain low levels of lead. Those created prior to 1960 may have even greater concentrations of lead in the paint.
If you’ve purchased an older home and are working to remodel your home, you may be concerned about lead paint. Rightfully, so. It is especially concerning if you have children.
Signs Your Home May Have Lead Paint
While older homes often do contain lead paint – at least in some areas of the home – the age of the home is not a sure sign that you have a lead paint problem on your hand. There are other signs you can look for that may indicate lead paint is a possible cause for concern, though, including the following:
- Cracked and peeling paint that looks scaly.
- Cracks in the paint along baseboards, in closets, and in window sashed.
- Paint flakes that are peeling off walls or rails on your deck.
If you see these types of signs in your home and it’s an older home, it is cause for concern.
Finding Out if Your Home or Deck has Lead Paint
Fortunately, it is fairly simple to determine if the peeling paint on your deck or in your home contains lead. The easiest method for determining if paint contains lead is to purchase a home testing kit. Home testing kits are easy to use and quite inexpensive.
The only problem is that they are not 100 percent reliable.
The most effective way to answer the question about whether your home or deck contains lead paint is to bring in a professional home inspector to check your home for lead paint. This process is a little more expensive but provides greater peace of mind than home testing kits.
At Perkins Painting LLC, we understand that excellent customer service is more than just showing up and doing the job. We show up on ,time, return your calls promptly, and go out of our way to show you that we appreciate your business.
Let us do the heavy lifting of dealing with your peeling paint problem so you never need to worry about lead paint affecting the people you low in a harmful way when preparing a deck for paint and painting your deck. Contact us today to learn more about our residential and commercial painting services.
