Essential Things To Do Before Painting Over Lead Paint
If you’re planning on giving your home a new look with a splash of paint, there are things you must consider first. One of those things is to find out if your initial wall paint is lead paint. It’s crucial to know if your walls have lead paint because painting over it requires safety precautions and measures. Here are the essential things to do before painting over lead paint
As you know, lead can be dangerous, especially when it begins to deteriorate, crack, or peel, or when it is sanded or demolished. Lead is a toxic material that you should be aware of as it can lead to serious health problems. While painting over lead-based paint is safe, it’s still crucial to know what you should do before doing anything to avoid complications.
Here are the things that you must do before adding your fresh coat of paint:
1. Test the Existing Paint for Lead
Before starting to do anything on your wall, you should test if your initial paint actually contains lead. While you can buy an at-home DIY test kit from your local hardware store or home improvement center to test the paint yourself, you can expect that you will have to do some peeling or scraping on your paint. Remember, lead paint can be dangerous once it starts to crack or peel, so peeling it yourself might be hazardous for your health. With that said, even if you can test the paint yourself, it’s best to seek a professional’s help like CVE to ensure safety and for the most accurate results.
2. Avoid Chipping, Scraping, or Sanding Lead Paint
As mentioned, lead paint can only be dangerous if it starts to peel, sand, or be demolished. So, when painting over your old paint, it’s important to leave it undisturbed. Any chips, scrapes, or sanding could lead to serious health problems. When you try to create friction to the lead paint, it will release particles of lead dust into the air, which can circulate through your home or workplace. To get it ready for painting, just wipe it down with a warm, wet towel.
3. Always Have Safety Precautions in Place
Since lead paint can potentially cause harm to human health, it’s crucial to have safety precautions in place before painting. Here are some of the safety precautions you can do to protect yourself, your home, your family, and on-site workers:
- Lay down drop cloths and secure them on the floor with painter’s tape.
- Wear gloves, protective clothing, and foot coverings.
- Keep children and at-risk adults far from the worksite.
- Always wear respiratory protection for lead dust.
- Always keep the area as clean as possible.
- Try to have a running High-Efficiency Particulate Air Filter (HEPA) during and after the work to filter any lead dust out of the air.
Summing Things Up
There’s nothing wrong with painting over the lead-based paint yourself. Just make sure to follow these steps before you do anything to ensure the safety of yourself and your family. But, it’s still recommended to seek a professional’s help to ensure proper precautions or lead is properly removed.
If you are looking for a company that does just that, CVE is who you’re searching for! We are a licensed environmental and general engineering company serving all of California, offering a wide range of environmental solutions, including lead abatement and lead removal, asbestos removal, mold remediation, and more. Contact us today to know how we can help you!