lead paint can

One of our readers has paint chips falling on their back deck and wants to make sure it’s not lead-based paint before letting a child spend time nearby. Poster stickerhappy writes:

We have a badly peeling rear exterior wall that drops paint chips onto the back deck and wanted to test to see if it was lead-based paint before we let our young child spend time out there.

For whatever reason, I don’t trust the DIY kits from HD and would like to send some chips off to be tested by a real lab. It is easy enough for me to gather chips and this is all the same paint so a couple samples from the wall seems fine, so I don’t really feel like I need anyone to come out to the building.

Anyone know of a reliable place to send paint chips to be tested for lead?

If you’ve had to get paint tested for lead before, head over to the Forum to help out the reader.

Have answers? Need help with something? Visit the Brownstoner Forum.

Photo by Fester11 via Wikipedia


What's Your Take? Leave a Comment

  1. And what will you do with the results of your test? Are you going to use the results to sue the landlord; possibly make the landlord lose his/her home?
    Or will you simply move if you feel it is unsafe to reside in?
    Most old houses were painted with led paint and a lot were never removed.

  2. Well, let’s pretend you had a raccoon problem. Would you write into brownstoner or would you find a service to just get rid of it. The same applies to lead paint. Find a licensed company to test and remove if necessary

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