Worried about lead paint in your home?
Get expert help from our certified team—schedule your lead assessment today!
June 3, 2025
If your home was built before 1978, there's a good chance it contains lead-based paint. And if you're thinking of doing any remodeling, repainting, or even just sanding down trim, you need to test for lead paint before you start.
Here’s how you can tell if there’s lead paint in your house, and what to do if you find it.
Why Lead Paint Is So Dangerous
Lead paint is dangerous because it's hard to identify - you can’t tell it’s there just by looking at it. You have to test for it to know for sure.
If you don’t, you're at risk of exposure. Lead paint sends lead dust flying into the air as it chips and flakes over time, or if you disturb it while doing home improvement work. Once it’s in the air, your family will breathe it in, which can cause permanent health problems, especially for young children.
How to Test for Lead Paint
1. Professional Assessment
Hiring a certified professional is the best way to test for lead paint in your house. Weatherization Services is a certified lead-based paint inspector and abatement contractor in Milwaukee.
If you’re worried about lead paint, give us a call. We’ll inspect your entire home to find out if and where lead-based paint is present. If it needs to be removed, we’ll take care of that, too.
2. Lead Test Kits
It’s possible to check for lead-based paint yourself, and you can buy a test kit at most hardware stores. Some are recognized by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), but only when used by a Lead Safe Certified contractor.
If you do test yourself, be careful. You might stir up dust or create fumes containing lead. This can be very dangerous for your family, especially your children. You should also make sure you keep a record of all the areas you test. Federal law requires you to disclose any known information about lead paint if you sell or rent your home.
When to Test for Lead Paint
If you think there could be lead paint in your house, it’s worth testing for it. You should also always test if:
- Your house was built before 1979, when lead-based paint was banned for residential use.
- You’re painting. Sanding and scraping can disrupt paint and release lead dust into the air.
- You’re renovating or remodeling. Demolition and renovation work can also disrupt paint and send lead dust flying.
- You see paint deteriorating. Peeling, chipping, and cracking paint can release lead dust.
- You notice lead poisoning symptoms like headaches, fatigue, and abdominal pain in yourself or your family.
How to Safely Remove Lead Paint
Hiring a Lead Safe Certified contractor is the safest way to remove lead paint from your house. As a Lead Safe Certified contractor in Wisconsin, Weatherization Services follows all state and federal regulations to safely remove lead-based paint. Plus, we can help you take advantage of the Milwaukee Lead Hazard Reduction Program, which may qualify you for free removal.
Our process includes:
1. Testing
We always start with testing. Testing allows us to confirm where lead paint is present so it can be fully removed.
2. Removal
There are several methods for lead-based paint removal. The best method depends on several factors, including where the paint is located, how much of it there is, and whether it’s been previously painted over.
Some of the most common methods include:
- Power sanding with HEPA filtered vacuum attachments
- Heat stripping with low-temperature heat guns
- Encapsulation to seal lead paint in place
- Window and door replacement, if there’s lead paint on the frames
1. Clean-Up & Disposal
Lead paint removal creates lead dust. If it’s not cleaned up properly, your house will be more hazardous after removal than it was before. This is why it’s so important to work with a certified lead abatement contractor that follows proper removal procedures.
We use special dust containment systems to minimize the spread of lead dust during paint removal, and HEPA filtered vacuums to clean up afterwards.
2. Verification
After we finish your lead abatement, we will verify our work with further testing. This extra step ensures that all lead paint has been successfully removed, so you can feel safe and comfortable in your home.