Painting Preparation Services
Lead-Based Paint Testing for Older Dallas-Fort Worth Homes
Lead-certified painters who test the paint on your walls before anyone sands, scrapes or tears into it, then tell you plainly what they found.
Why paint in an older house gets tested before it gets touched
Homes built before 1978 may contain lead-based paint. That paint is usually under newer coats, which is exactly why it goes unnoticed: nothing about a sound, painted wall suggests a problem until someone starts sanding it, scraping a window casing or cutting into a wall.
Renovations are the moment it matters. Disturbing lead paint can release harmful dust, and that dust settles on floors, sills and toys. Children and pregnant women are particularly vulnerable to lead exposure, and lead poisoning can cause developmental issues and other health problems. Plenty of Dallas-Fort Worth neighborhoods have houses old enough to be on that list.
Testing is also often required for real estate transactions, so some customers call before a sale rather than before a repaint. Either way the question is the same: what is in the paint, and what has to happen before work begins?
Brick two-story house mid-job with windows masked, ladders up and a State 28 yard sign on the lawn
What a State 28 test covers, start to finish
State 28 Painting Company is lead-certified. Testing can include X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis, paint chip sampling, dust wipe sampling and soil sampling, followed by a risk assessment and a detailed report with recommendations. We use EPA-approved methods, including XRF analyzers or paint chip sampling, for accurate results.
XRF is the quick way to read paint in place, and paint chips are the physical sample. Dust wipes tell you about what is already loose in the house, and soil samples matter at the exterior, where weathered paint falls to the ground. Which of these a particular house needs depends on its age, its condition and what you plan to do to it.
A project manager is on the job site while sampling is done, and the work ends with detailed reporting and recommendations. If lead paint is detected, we provide recommendations for safe removal or encapsulation to protect your health.
After the results, and how testing fits the rest of the job
A negative result lets the painting plan go ahead the normal way. A positive one changes how surfaces are prepared, which is the whole point of knowing first. Because our painters are lead-certified, the same company that tests can also plan the repaint around the findings, whether that is exterior house painting, interior work, trim or siding.
Testing pairs naturally with the other preparation services: drywall repair and popcorn ceiling removal both involve cutting, scraping or sanding, so they are the jobs where a lead check earns its keep in an older home. Call (214) 771-9145 to schedule lead-based paint testing anywhere in the Metroplex. Quotes are free and same-day, and the work carries a three-year labor and materials warranty.
Lead-certified. Licensed, bonded, and insured. Project manager on every job site. Three-year labor and materials warranties. Free same-day quotes: (214) 771-9145.
Testing includes
Pre-job check- X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysisA handheld analyzer reads the paint on the wall where it stands.
- Paint chip samplingA small sample of the paint layers is taken for analysis.
- Dust wipe samplingSurfaces are wiped to check for settled dust that carries lead.
- Soil samplingSoil around the house is sampled where exterior paint has been disturbed.
- Risk assessmentWhat was found, where it is, and how likely it is to be disturbed.
- Detailed reporting and recommendationsA written report, with next steps for any hazard that turns up.
Know what is under the old paint
Testing is one of State 28’s preparation services, next to drywall repair and popcorn ceiling removal. It comes first when the house is old and the plan involves sanding.
Once the results are in, the repaint can follow: exterior house painting, interior house painting or wood trim painting, planned around what the test found.