Lead Paint Safety in Pre-1978 Homes

Safety  ·  June 2, 2026  ·  8 min read  ·  by KB Quality Painting

Why this matters in Orange County specifically

Lead-based paint was banned for residential use in the United States in 1978. Any home built before that date may contain it — and a substantial share of Orange County's housing does. The village centers of Warwick, Goshen, Montgomery and Walden, the older neighborhoods of Newburgh and Middletown, the converted cottages around Greenwood Lake, and plenty of individual older houses scattered through every town in the county all fall into this category.

Intact lead paint on a wall is generally not the hazard. The hazard is lead dust — created when painted surfaces are sanded, scraped, cut or demolished. That dust is fine, it settles on floors and window sills, and it's a genuine health concern particularly for children under six and for pregnant women.

Which means the moment a painting contractor starts prepping an older home, the question of how they contain and clean up that dust becomes the most important thing about the job.

The RRP rule, in plain terms

The EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) rule applies to contractors performing work that disturbs painted surfaces in homes and child-occupied facilities built before 1978. Under it, firms must be EPA-certified, must have a certified renovator supervising the work, and must follow specific lead-safe work practices.

What a compliant contractor does differently

• Provides you with the EPA's lead pamphlet ("Renovate Right") before work begins, and obtains your acknowledgement.
• Contains the work area with plastic sheeting, seals off doorways and vents, and covers the ground outside for exterior work.
• Prohibits the worst practices — open-flame burning, high-heat guns, power sanding or grinding without HEPA attachment, and uncontained dry scraping on exteriors.
• Uses HEPA vacuums and wet methods rather than dry sweeping.
• Performs a cleaning verification at the end of the job rather than just tidying up.
• Keeps records of the work practices used, which they must retain and can provide to you.

When it doesn't apply

The rule generally doesn't apply to homes built in 1978 or later, to work that disturbs only very small areas (there's a minor-repair threshold), or to work a homeowner performs themselves in their own home. That last exemption is worth pausing on: it means the law permits you to create lead dust in your own house. It doesn't mean doing so is a good idea, particularly if children live there.

What this means practically for your project

It changes the prep, not the paint

Lead-safe work is about containment and cleanup. The coatings themselves are the same. What changes is how the surface is prepared: wet scraping instead of dry, HEPA-equipped sanders instead of open sanding, plastic containment, and a proper verified clean at the end.

It costs more, and legitimately so

Containment materials, HEPA equipment, slower work methods and cleaning verification all take time. Expect a pre-1978 job to carry a premium over the same work on a newer house. A contractor quoting an older home at the same rate as a new one is either absorbing that cost or not doing it.

Encapsulation is often the right strategy

Where existing paint is intact and sound, the best approach is usually to disturb it as little as possible — clean, prime and coat over it, sealing it in place rather than removing it. Removal is for surfaces that are already failing. Less disturbance means less dust, which means less risk and lower cost.

Testing

You don't have to test. Contractors may simply assume lead is present in a pre-1978 home and work accordingly, which is often the most practical route. If you do want to know:

• Certified lead inspector or risk assessor — the thorough option, providing a documented assessment of where lead is present and in what condition.
• Certified renovator using EPA-recognized test kits — a faster screening approach for specific components.
• DIY hardware store kits — cheap and readily available, but variable in reliability. Useful as an indicator, not as a basis for decisions.

New York State also maintains childhood lead poisoning prevention programs through county health departments, and Orange County residents with specific concerns — particularly with young children in the home — can contact the county health department for guidance.

What we do on older homes

When we estimate a pre-1978 house we walk the scope with its age in mind from the start. That means telling you at the estimate — not after you've signed — where the work will need containment, where we'd recommend encapsulating rather than stripping, and how that affects both the schedule and the price.

On interior work in older homes that usually means containment, wet methods and HEPA cleanup rather than open sanding. On exteriors it means ground containment, controlled scraping and a genuine cleanup of the perimeter rather than leaving chips in the beds.

Older homes in Orange County are worth doing properly. The plaster, the original woodwork and the trim profiles in a Warwick or Goshen village house are things you can't buy new. They just need a contractor who'll treat the age of the house as a fact to work with rather than an inconvenience to work around.