Keeping the Lead Out of a Park Hill Renovation

By Tom Higgins, Superior Products Home Improvements

We all love Park Hill for its wonderful older homes. The downside of an older home is the possibility of lead paint contamination during renovations. New EPA guidelines about how to handle lead paint in older homes were introduced in April 2010. This changed the costs and processes of remodeling homes built before 1978. In March 2012, an EPA representative and a lead paint poisoning expert from the University of Colorado School of Medicine spoke on this at the Park Hill Public Library.

The goal was to ensure that Park Hill residents understand the potential for harm if they disturb lead paint during renovations. EPA regulations stipulate contractors must follow “lead-safe” processes to ensure they don’t disturb lead paint in older homes, and provide customers with a pamphlet on this topic. Exposure to lead is particularly hazardous to children.

Here are tips for a “lead-safe” renovation:
• Use contractors trained to handle lead according to EPA standards.
• Consider new storm window products that block drafts but don’t disturb paint on old windows: “Window-lation.”
• Consider encapsulating a home painted with lead paint: “Stucco-lation.”

Proper handling of lead during renovations is the law – and it’s designed to keep your family and pets safe and healthy.

Tom Higgins is the owner of Superior Products Home Improvements, a local, family-owned, award-winning remodeling company certified in “lead-safe” renovations. Tom can be reached at 303-347-2555 or asksuperior.com.