If your Philadelphia house was built before 1978, treat the old paint as if it contains lead until a certified professional tests it and shows otherwise. Fresh paint over sound old paint isn't the problem. The problem is the dust made by scraping, sanding and cutting into old paint during prep. When you pay someone to do that work, the federal Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) rule generally requires an EPA-certified firm with a certified renovator, plastic containment, no dry power sanding without a HEPA vacuum, no torching, and a careful cleanup. If you do the work yourself in a home you own and live in, the rule usually doesn't apply to you, but the dust is just as dangerous, so the same precautions make sense.
This is general information, not legal advice or a lead inspection. The rule itself is in 40 CFR Part 745, Subpart E, and EPA's lead pages at epa.gov/lead are the place to confirm details.
Why old paint matters in Philadelphia
Many of the city's rowhomes and twins were built long before 1978, the year lead-based paint was banned for residential use. Layers of it often survive under newer paint on window sashes and sills, doors and frames, porch columns and railings, cornices, baseboards and stairs.
The City's lead guide puts it plainly: most children who get lead poisoning get it from lead dust in homes built before 1978, and when old lead paint cracks and peels, it creates lead dust. Its prevention page warns that home repairs like sanding or scraping paint can create dangerous dust. The same guide notes that flaking paint on the outside of houses can get into the soil, which matters if you garden in a small rowhome yard.
Not sure when your house was built? The City's property assessment records (property.phila.gov) list a year built, though for very old houses it can be an estimate. EPA's advice for do-it-yourselfers is simple: if you can't determine the age, assume lead-based paint is present.
What the federal rule requires when you hire a painter
The RRP rule applies to renovations performed for compensation in pre-1978 housing and child-occupied facilities (40 CFR 745.82). "Renovation" explicitly includes surface preparation such as sanding and scraping, window repair, and modifying painted doors (40 CFR 745.83). So a paid painting job with real prep work on an older house is usually covered.
Small jobs may be exempt
The rule doesn't cover "minor repair and maintenance": disturbing 6 square feet or less of painted surface per room inside, or 20 square feet or less outside. That exemption is lost if the job involves window replacement, demolition of painted surfaces, or any of the prohibited practices below. Jobs in the same room within 30 days count as one job, so a contractor can't split a big job into small ones to stay under the limit.
Testing can take a job out of the rule
The rule doesn't apply if a certified inspector or risk assessor has determined in writing that the surfaces being worked on are free of lead-based paint, or if a certified renovator tests each affected component with an EPA-recognized test kit or sends paint chips to an EPA-recognized lab and gets a negative result. If a painter tells you "it's not lead," ask how they know and ask for the result in writing.
What a covered job looks like
Under 40 CFR 745.84 and 745.85, the firm must:
- Give you EPA's Renovate Right pamphlet no more than 60 days before the work starts, and get your written acknowledgment (or mail it at least 7 days ahead).
- Post warning signs around the work area and keep people who aren't working out of it.
- Contain the work area inside: remove or cover furniture and rugs with sealed plastic, close and cover ducts, cover doors with plastic, and tape plastic on the floor at least 6 feet beyond the surfaces being worked on.
- Contain the work area outside: close doors and windows within 20 feet, and cover the ground with plastic at least 10 feet beyond the work, or far enough to catch falling debris.
- Clean up properly: collect chips and debris without spreading them, mist and fold the plastic dirty side in, and, inside, HEPA-vacuum and wet-wipe everything in and around the work area. A certified renovator then checks the result: a cleaning verification inside, a visual inspection of surfaces and the ground outside.
What's prohibited
The rule bans or limits the three things that make the most lead dust:
- Open-flame burning or torching of painted surfaces is prohibited.
- Power sanding, grinding, planing, needle guns and abrasive blasting on painted surfaces are prohibited unless the machine has a shroud or containment and a HEPA vacuum attachment collecting dust at the point it's made.
- Heat guns are allowed only below 1,100°F.
If you see someone dry-sanding old window trim with an ordinary sander and no vacuum, or burning paint off a porch rail, stop the job and ask questions.
The rowhome problem: your neighbor's wall is 15 feet away
Philadelphia blocks make lead-safe exterior work harder. The rule's 10-foot ground cover often can't fit on a narrow front or a shared rear alley. The regulation addresses this directly: if the work is within 10 feet of the property line, the firm must put up vertical containment or take equivalent extra precautions so dust and debris don't contaminate adjacent buildings or migrate to neighboring properties.
In practice, ask the painter how they'll contain a front facade, cornice or second-floor windows on your block, how they'll protect your neighbor's steps, windows and yard, and how they'll handle a windy day. A shared porch or a cornice that spans two houses is a good reason to talk with the neighbor before work starts.
If dust from someone else's construction or demolition is blowing onto your property, the City's Lead and Healthy Homes Program page says to call 311.
Fall timing for exterior painting
October is a popular month to finish exterior trim before winter, and it's a reasonable time to do it if the weather cooperates. Two practical points:
- Check the product label for the minimum application temperature and dry time, and remember that overnight temperatures and morning dew matter, not just the afternoon high. A good painter will plan around them rather than rush the last coat.
- Prep is where the lead risk is. Scraping loose paint off sills and porch parts produces chips that land in planting beds and on the sidewalk. Ground cover and a daily cleanup aren't optional on an older house.
If the work can't be done properly before the cold sets in, it's usually better to stabilize failing paint and do the full job in spring.
If you're doing the work yourself
EPA's page for do-it-yourselfers says the rule generally does not apply to homeowners working in their own home. It does apply if you rent out all or part of the house, run a child care center there, or buy, renovate and sell homes for profit. EPA's recommended practices for DIY work include:
- Move furniture and food out of the room, cover floors with plastic and seal doorways. Turn off forced-air heating or cooling and cover the vents.
- Wear an N-100 respirator, disposable coveralls, shoe covers, eye protection and gloves. Wash your hands and face whenever you stop, and wash work clothes separately.
- Mist surfaces before scraping or sanding. Use HEPA attachments on power tools and keep any heat gun under 1,100°F.
- Keep everyone who isn't working out of the area until cleanup is complete, especially children and anyone pregnant.
- Clean at the end of each day with a HEPA vacuum and wet wipes, bag debris in heavy plastic, and do a final round of HEPA-vacuuming, mopping and wet-wiping before anyone moves back in.
A note on store-bought test kits: EPA says that recognized kits can reliably show that lead-based paint is not present, but no kit has met the criteria for reliably showing that it is present, and EPA only recognizes tests done by certified inspectors, risk assessors and renovators. See EPA's lead test kits page. A positive result from a hardware-store kit is a reason to be careful, not a final answer.
Checklist before you hire a painter for an older house
- Find out when the house was built. If it's before 1978 or unknown, assume lead.
- Ask whether the company is an EPA Lead-Safe Certified firm and who the certified renovator on your job will be. You can search firms with EPA's lead-safe firm locator.
- Ask how they'll prepare the surfaces: wet scraping, HEPA-shrouded sanders, chemical strippers or replacement of rotted parts, and never torches.
- Ask how they'll contain the work, inside and outside, and how they'll protect neighbors on a tight block.
- Expect the Renovate Right pamphlet before work starts and sign the acknowledgment.
- Get the scope in writing: which surfaces, how much prep, how many coats, the products, the cleanup, and how debris will be disposed of.
- Check the contractor's Pennsylvania Home Improvement Contractor registration and insurance. Our guide on how to check a contractor in Philadelphia walks through it.
- Plan where children, pets and anyone pregnant will be while dust-producing work is going on.
If you rent out the house, there's an extra layer. Under Philadelphia's Lead Disclosure and Certification Law, the City says landlords must test and certify rental properties as lead-safe or lead-free to sign a new or renewed lease and to get or renew a rental license. See the City's page on submitting lead certification and inspection reports and its resources for landlords, and plan repainting with that in mind.
When to call a pro
Hire a lead-safe certified firm for any job that will disturb more than a small patch of old paint: exterior trim and porches, window sashes and sills, stairways, or a full room with peeling paint. It's also the right call when young children or a pregnant family member live in the house, when the paint is failing over a large area, or when the house is a rental.
If a child in your home has had a high blood lead test, talk with your pediatrician and the City's Lead and Healthy Homes Program at (215) 685-2788 before any work starts. The program says it provides home inspections and, for eligible families, coordinates lead removal.
When you're ready, you can describe the job once on HomeKept, with photos of the surfaces that need work and the year the house was built, and compare up to three estimates from local painters in Philadelphia. It's free for homeowners. Ask each painter the lead questions above and compare how they answer, not just the price.
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