Lead Paint Testing
Lead-Based Paint Testing in Nashville
Certified lead testing for pre-1978 homes and commercial buildings — usually handled in the same visit as your asbestos survey.
Why Test for Lead
The risk that hides in good-looking paint
Lead-based paint was used in American homes until it was banned for residential use in 1978. Intact and undisturbed, it’s relatively stable. The danger comes from deterioration and disturbance — chipping, peeling, sanding, scraping, or demolition, all of which release lead dust into the living space.
Lead exposure is particularly serious for young children and pregnant women, with effects on development that can be permanent. Because lead dust is invisible and settles on floors and windowsills where children play, the absence of visible peeling paint isn’t reassurance.
If you’re renovating, buying, or renting out a pre-1978 property, testing gives you a definitive answer before anyone starts sanding.
Test before you
- Renovate or remodel a pre-1978 property
- Buy or sell an older home
- Rent out a property built before 1978
- Sand, scrape, or strip existing paint
- Move in with young children or while pregnant
- Address paint that’s chipping or peeling
Testing for asbestos too? We handle both in the same visit — one trip, one schedule, one report cycle.
Where Lead Shows Up
The surfaces that matter most
Windows & Sills
Friction surfaces generate lead dust every time a window opens. Sills and troughs are among the highest-priority test locations in any older home.
Doors & Frames
Another friction and impact surface. Painted door edges and jambs wear against each other constantly.
Trim & Baseboards
Painted woodwork throughout older homes, particularly in high-traffic areas where it gets bumped, scuffed, and repainted.
Porches & Exterior
Exterior paint deteriorates faster under weather, and chips can contaminate the soil where children play.
Stairs & Railings
High-contact surfaces that children touch constantly, and where paint wears through to older layers underneath.
Walls & Ceilings
Often layered with decades of paint. Newer paint on top doesn’t eliminate the risk once anyone starts sanding into it.
Answers
Lead testing questions
My house was painted recently. Doesn’t that seal it?
Encapsulation can be part of a legitimate management strategy, but fresh paint over lead paint doesn’t remove the underlying material. The moment anyone sands, scrapes, or drills into that surface, or the newer paint starts to fail, lead dust is back in play. Testing tells you what’s actually under there.
Can I use a hardware store lead test swab?
Consumer swabs can indicate a possible presence, but they’re prone to both false positives and false negatives, and they won’t satisfy a lender, an insurer, or a regulatory requirement. Certified testing with accredited lab analysis gives you a result you can actually use.
Do you remove lead paint?
No. Same as asbestos, we’re a testing and inspection company only. If lead is present we’ll explain what was found, where, and at what concentration, and connect you with qualified contractors for abatement or encapsulation.
Can you test for lead and asbestos at the same time?
Yes, and most clients should. Both hazards live in the same era of construction and in overlapping materials. Combining them into a single visit saves you a second inspection, a second schedule, and a second disruption.
Request Testing
Schedule lead testing
Tell us about the property and whether you also need asbestos testing — we’ll combine them into one visit.
Get a straight answer about your property.
Call and we’ll walk through your situation — there’s no charge for the conversation.