Lead Paint Testing in the Capital Region
Any home built before 1978 may contain lead-based paint, and the Capital Region has plenty of housing stock from that era — Albany row houses, Troy brownstones, Schenectady working-class neighborhoods, and the older sections of every smaller Hudson Valley town. Air Test Pros provides certified lead paint testing for homeowners, landlords, and renovation contractors who need a clear answer before they sand, scrape, or disturb anything.
When You Need a Lead Paint Test
- Renovation in a pre-1978 home — the EPA Renovation, Repair, and Painting (RRP) Rule requires lead-safe work practices unless you can document the paint is lead-free
- Pregnant women or young children moving into an older home — lead exposure is especially dangerous for developing nervous systems
- Concerning blood lead level in a child, with the pediatrician asking where exposure might be coming from
- Buying a pre-1978 property — sellers must disclose known lead-based paint, but disclosure doesn’t equal testing
- Property management — landlords renting to families with children under 6 have specific obligations under HUD lead safe housing rules
How We Test for Lead Paint
Paint Chip Sampling
The gold standard. We collect small chips of paint from each painted component (window sashes, door frames, trim, walls, etc.), bag and label them with chain-of-custody, and ship them to an accredited lab. Results report lead content in milligrams per square centimeter or as a percentage by weight. Lab turnaround is typically 3-5 business days.
Dust Wipe Sampling
Lead exposure most often happens through dust — fine particles of deteriorated lead paint that settle on floors, window sills, and window troughs. Dust wipe sampling identifies actual exposure risk where children spend time. This is required for many post-renovation clearance projects.
XRF Surface Readings (When Appropriate)
For homes with many painted surfaces, XRF analyzers provide non-destructive readings of lead concentration through the existing paint surface. We typically combine XRF with paint chip confirmation samples for the most reliable result.
What the Results Tell You
The EPA defines lead-based paint as paint containing 1.0 milligram per square centimeter or 0.5% by weight. Below that, it’s legally not lead-based paint — though any pre-1978 home may still have lower-concentration lead in the paint, and disturbed paint can still create dust hazards.
If samples come back positive, you have options:
- Encapsulate — cover with a specialized coating that locks lead in place
- Enclose — install new material (drywall, paneling) over the lead-painted surface
- Replace — remove and replace the component entirely (typically windows, doors, trim)
- Remove — chemically strip or wet-scrape the lead paint using EPA-RRP-compliant containment
EPA RRP Rule. If a contractor is going to disturb more than 6 square feet of interior or 20 square feet of exterior painted surface in a pre-1978 home, they’re required by federal law to use lead-safe work practices unless the paint has been tested and confirmed lead-free. A Air Test Pros test makes that documentation simple.
Service Area for Lead Testing
Air Test Pros provides lead paint testing throughout the Capital Region and Hudson Valley — every county we serve has pre-1978 housing stock that may need it.