Lead Paint Removal

Health Canada's year bands are the starting point. Your home probably contains lead-based paint if it was built before 1960. If it was built between 1960 and 1990, the exterior may contain lead-based paint. Houses built after 1990 should not contain lead, because consumer paints made in Canada and the United States were virtually lead-free by then. Intact lead paint under newer coats is generally left alone. The risk comes when it is chipping, chalking, or about to be sanded, scraped or heated during a renovation.

Health Canada's guidance on what not to do is specific: do not sand, and do not use heat guns or blowlamps, because that creates toxic dust and fumes. The options it gives are to hire a professional, to use a chemical paint stripper paste, or to cover the surface with wallpaper, wallboard or panelling. Testing is done by sending paint chip samples to a lab or by a contractor with the proper x-ray equipment. Scrapings and debris go in a sealed container marked hazardous waste and are disposed of according to your municipality's instructions.

For contractors, Alberta's OHS Code sets an occupational exposure limit for lead, requires an exposure control plan when workers may be exposed above it for more than 30 days a year, and requires that blood-lead testing be made available. Ask a contractor how they will contain dust, protect the household, and clean up.

We do not publish a price for lead paint removal. No Calgary or Canadian source we read gives a usable figure, and the American per-square-foot guides do not transfer. Get written quotes that describe the method, the containment and the cleanup.