Lead-based paint was banned for residential use in the United States in 1978. A very large share of the housing stock in Seattle, Tacoma, Everett and the older Eastside neighborhoods predates that. If your home does, this is not a theoretical concern — it is a specific legal and safety process that changes how the work gets done.
Does your home have lead paint
Rough odds by era:
| Built | Likelihood of lead paint |
|---|---|
| Before 1940 | Very high — assume yes |
| 1940–1959 | High |
| 1960–1977 | Moderate, decreasing toward 1978 |
| 1978 and later | Not expected |
It is most often found on surfaces that were painted with durable oil enamels: window sashes and sills, door casings, baseboards, stair rails, porches and exterior trim. Those are also the surfaces that get the most friction and impact — which is exactly why they matter.
Why disturbing it is the risk
Intact, undisturbed lead paint under later coats is generally not an active hazard. The hazard is dust. Sanding, scraping, heat-gunning or power-washing lead paint aerosolizes it into fine particles that settle on floors, sills and soil and are then tracked, inhaled and touched.
Children under six and pregnant women are the primary concern, because lead affects developing nervous systems and there is no established safe blood level. A single afternoon of careless dry sanding in a 1925 house can contaminate a room for a long time.
What the RRP rule requires
The EPA Renovation, Repair and Painting rule applies to paid work that disturbs painted surfaces in homes and child-occupied facilities built before 1978. In broad terms it requires that:
- The firm doing the work is EPA-certified, and a certified renovator is assigned to the job
- You receive the EPA pamphlet Renovate Right before work begins
- Lead-safe work practices are used — containment, no open-flame or high-heat stripping, no uncontained power sanding
- The work area is cleaned with HEPA vacuums and wet methods, and a cleaning verification is performed
- Records are kept and provided to you
There are limited exemptions, including truly minor repairs below a small square footage threshold, and homes with a documented negative lead test. Washington administers additional requirements through the Department of Commerce, and contractors here need the state lead-based paint certification in addition to their contractor registration.
A contractor who offers to skip the lead process to save you money is offering to save money by putting lead dust in your house. Penalties for the firm are severe, and the cleanup cost if a home is contaminated dwarfs whatever the shortcut saved.
How testing works
Three levels, in increasing cost and certainty:
- Swab kits. Inexpensive, instant, sold at hardware stores. Useful for a quick yes. A negative result is less reliable, especially through multiple layers.
- Lab paint chip analysis. A small sample sent to an accredited lab. Modest cost per sample, definitive for that spot.
- XRF inspection. A certified inspector with an X-ray fluorescence gun reads every component non-destructively. Most thorough, most expensive, and the right call before a large renovation.
Practical approach for a repaint: test the specific components that will be disturbed, not the whole house.
What lead-safe work looks like
If your job is done under RRP, you should visibly see:
- Plastic sheeting on floors and over doorways, taped down, with the work area sealed off
- Warning signage at the entrances to the work area
- HVAC vents covered so dust is not distributed through the ducts
- Wet sanding or sanders fitted with HEPA shroud attachments — never open dry sanding
- Exterior work with ground sheeting extending well out from the wall, and soil protection
- Daily HEPA vacuuming and wet wiping, with debris bagged and sealed on site
- Crew in disposable coveralls and respirators, changing before leaving the containment
What you should never see: an open flame torch, a heat gun above 1100°F, uncontained power washing on pre-1978 exteriors, or dry scraping onto bare ground.
Asbestos in popcorn ceilings
Related and often confused. Textured "popcorn" ceilings installed before roughly 1980 may contain asbestos. Like lead, intact material is low risk; scraping it is what creates the hazard.
Before any popcorn ceiling removal in a home of that vintage, get a sample tested by an accredited lab. It is inexpensive. If it is positive, removal becomes licensed abatement work — a different trade with different rules, and no reputable painter will scrape it for you.
Questions to ask any contractor
- Is your firm EPA lead-safe certified, and can I see the certificate?
- Who is the certified renovator assigned to my job?
- How will you contain the work area, and how will you verify cleanup?
- Are you testing the components you plan to disturb, or assuming lead is present?
- Will lead-safe practices appear as a line item so I can see what I am paying for?
Any contractor who cannot answer these quickly and specifically should not be disturbing paint in a pre-1978 home.