Lead Paint – What you need to know when having your home repainted!

What exactly is lead paint?

Simply put, it’s just like any other kind of paint – it just contains lead. It was used on Australian homes pre-1970’s for the benefits of a quicker drying time, longer and fresher lifespan.

Exposure to lead can cause serious health problems, and though symptoms may not appear early,

Grind lead as an apprentice

1993/1992 -WH&S changed stop grinding paint

Are there any health risks?

There are a number of associated health risks involved with lead poisoning, including:

Damage to the brain and nervous system
Slowed growth and development in children
Learning and behavior problems
Hearing and speech problems
Lower IQ
Decreased ability to pay attention
Death

Exposure to lead can seriously harm a child’s health and slow their development to reach full potential, in some rare cases even death may occur through accidental ingestion.

Where are you most likely to find lead paint in your home?

The usual places where you’ll find this toxic ingredient will be around kitchen & bathroom cupboards, skirting boards, window frames, doors and even interior or exterior walls for homes built pre 1970’s. Some really dangerous scenarios could be an old skirting board peeling paint which a child could easily ingest and get ill quickly. It’s always a good idea to test your paint for lead.

What do I do if I have lead paint?

Unless you’re aware of the home’s history, you won’t be able to identify the lead paint by looking at it. There are home test kits you can obtain to check yourself and be sure of what you’re dealing with. Thoroughly clean surface before testing as lead can be present on the surface due to other external factors, i.e. motor vehicles etc

There is a great deal of information available to assist you in carrying out the task of removing lead paint before repainting your own home, however, given the health risks and work involved in removal – it’s generally best to leave this task to a professional Painter.

If the coating is still in a good condition and not peeling, blistering or flaking, removal may not be necessary, but again, when it comes to the safety of your family and pets we would suggest having a qualified Painter confirm this.

How does PJ Group handle safe removal?

There are several methods for safe removal, and the type we use will depend on many factors such as;

Areas where lead paint has been applied
Location and surroundings of the home

All work we carry out is compliant with Workplace Health & Safety and we’re always keeping up-to-date with current legislation to ensure we’re ticking all the right boxes!

Though removal can be quite expensive, we don’t take shortcuts because there is nothing more important than you and your families health and well-being. The products used for removal are expensive as well as being a very time-consuming job can result in high labour charges too.

There are two main methods we use for removal:

Using an environmentally safe product (or a chemical based product), apply to surface, wrap all around the house, come back after 24-48 hrs to remove plastic, which also removes the lead paint
Using grinders, which involves complete encapsulation of the house, use of extraction fans and ground coverings

There are many factors surrounding the method used, which is something we can discuss with you onsite – If you need someone to run a test of your home for traces of lead or to arrange an appointment for a free painting quotation, give us a call today!

Henry Egloff