Lead Paint Removal
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Trust The Professionals When It Comes To Safe Lead Paint Removal
The federal government has banned lead-based paints since 1978. Yet you could fall victim to lead poisoning in your own home, even in this day and age.
Lead paints were popular from the 1940s to 1970s because they were durable and dried quickly. So if you’re living in an older home, there could be lead-based paint. In fact, millions of homes built before 1978 here in the United States still contain some kind of lead-based paint even today – except such lead hazards could easily be hidden under layers of new paint, flooring, or behind built-in furniture, which isn’t exactly a problem until you start making repairs, or knocking down walls when remodeling, for example.
When lead-based paint deteriorates over time or is scraped and hacked at home improvement jobs, lead paint chips break off, and lead dust escapes into the air. Just our usual daily activities at home can even swirl the lead dust around and cause it to settle on even more areas of the house, increasing our exposure to lead poisoning.
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Why Is Lead Based Paint A Problem?
Lead is a highly toxic heavy metal, and lead poisoning is a health risk for humans, especially children.
When we breathe in and swallow airborne lead particles, it can cause damage to the brain and other vital organs, causing health problems like kidney damage, high blood pressure, fertility issues, and nerve problems. Some signs of lead poisoning are headaches, nausea, abdominal pain, memory and focus problems, and even paralysis.
In children, lead poisoning may cause learning disabilities, behavioral problems, seizures, and sometimes even death. The most frightening thing is that children exposed to lead poisoning might not show any symptoms, so you wouldn’t even realize they are being affected.
Children, especially young children, tend to be more exposed to lead poisoning because they naturally like to put things in their mouths or play in the garden, which exposes them to flaking paint chips from your home’s exterior. Studies show that hundreds of thousands of children in the United States have significantly dangerous levels of lead in their bodies.
Steps We Take For Lead Paint Removal
Our licensed inspectors will thoroughly inspect and assess the lead contamination present in your home, and recommend a customized lead paint removal plan for your home.
If the lead paint is in relatively good condition and isn’t chipping or flaking off, you can paint over it to protect your family from coming into direct contact with it. This is called “encapsulation,” and it is an effective remediation technique that is safer than lead-based paint removal because it does not disturb the paint and potentially releases lead dust into the air. Note, however, that you will need specially formulated “encapsulants” instead of your regular hardware store house paints.
Our lead paint removal specialists might use one of a few methods to remove the paint, whether it’s scraping with chemical paint strippers or sanding it with an industrial vacuum with a HEPA filter. No matter the method, you can trust that we will do it safely and according to EPA guidelines and lead paint removal regulations. We pay special attention to contain the work area so that there will not be any possibility of lead contamination, and our team will also take care of safe cleaning procedures and sanitization.
If the situation is severe, you might need to consider replacement and restoration. This may mean removing entire areas, such as windows, doors, or even drywalls covered in lead-based paint. This might make sense if you’re already doing renovation work on your home. Replacing contaminated lead-painted surfaces will definitely remove any traces of lead-based paint.
How Can You Tell If You Have Lead Paint?
Unfortunately, there is no way to look at a paint job and tell if it contains lead. However, there are some common signs, such as what is known as “alligatoring,” so named because lead-based paint cracks and wrinkles and starts looking like the skin of an alligator. Another sign is if you rub the paint and see a chalky substance coming off of it.
But even then, it’s impossible to tell with the naked eye if the paint in your home is lead-based. So the best thing you can do is seek the help of a professional to conduct a proper paint inspection and lab analysis.
IMPORTANT NOTE: If you suspect it might be lead paint, do not try to remove it by yourself! Always consult a professional first. If you discover lead paint while doing renovations or repainting activities, stop what you are doing and contact the lead paint abatement professionals. Any lead paint deterioration needs first to be stabilized before any further work can continue, and the professionals will take the correct safety precautions to ensure you can continue with a lead-safe renovation.
Call our certified professionals today at (718) 357-9191, we are available for you 24/7/365!
