Lead-safe kitchen remodel in a home built before 1978

Why does the build year matter for a kitchen remodel?

The year 1978 is the cut-off EPA uses for its Renovation, Repair and Painting rule, usually shortened to RRP. Paid renovation, repair or painting work that disturbs paint in a home built before that year falls under the rule. The rule is federal, so it reaches the same way into a Bay Area bungalow and a Dallas–Fort Worth ranch house; California and Texas homeowners are covered alike.

Kitchens are where this comes up most. A remodel rarely touches only new surfaces. Old cabinets come off painted walls, soffits are opened to run a new hood duct, a window is swapped, drywall is cut for a new circuit, and trim around doors is pried loose. Each of those steps can disturb layers of paint that went on decades before anyone thought about lead. If you are not sure when the house was built, the county assessor's record or your purchase papers usually say, and it is worth knowing before you ask for bids.

For the full order of a kitchen project, from planning to the last inspection, see the kitchen remodeling A to Z. This page covers the part of it that the house's age adds.

Which contractors need EPA lead-safe certification?

Any firm paid to do work that disturbs paint in a pre-1978 home needs EPA lead-safe certification, and EPA says plainly that sole proprietors are included. A one-person handyman business, a cabinet installer who works alone and a large remodeling company are held to the same rule when the job is in an older home.

That matters because people sometimes assume the rule is aimed at big outfits. It is not. What counts is that the work is paid and that it disturbs paint in an older home, not how many people the business employs. The firm is what holds the certification, and the people it sends to the job then follow lead-safe work practices.

The trades on a kitchen job each count. A general contractor running the project, an electrician cutting into a painted wall for new counter outlets, a plumber opening a wall to move the sink drain, and a painter finishing the room are all doing paid work that can disturb paint. When you collect bids, ask each firm that will touch painted surfaces, not only the one whose name is on the contract.

Where is the line for small jobs?

EPA exempts minor repair and maintenance that disturbs 6 square feet or less of painted surface per room inside the home, or 20 square feet or less on the outside. Above those amounts, the rule applies. Six square feet is roughly a two-by-three-foot patch, so most real kitchen work passes it quickly.

Think about what a typical kitchen project disturbs. Taking down a run of upper cabinets usually scars the wall behind every one of them. Opening a soffit for a duct, cutting a chase for new wiring, and patching around a relocated window add up fast. A single outlet box cut into one wall might stay under the line; a new set of counter circuits along a whole run likely will not. When you are close to the line, ask the contractor how they measured it, in writing.

Demolition and windows are always covered

Two kinds of work never fit the small-job exemption, whatever their size. EPA says demolition of painted surfaces and window replacement are not minor repair work. If your remodel tears out a painted wall, a painted soffit or painted built-ins, or replaces a kitchen window, the firm doing it must hold the certification even if the painted area is small. Many kitchen remodels include both, which is one more reason to raise the house's age at the very first visit.

What does lead-safe work look like on site?

EPA's contractor page sets out the lead-safe practices a firm uses. You do not need to manage them yourself, but knowing the general shape helps you tell a careful crew from a careless one. Expect the work area to be set apart from the rest of the house, the dust to be kept down rather than spread, and the area to be cleaned up properly before the job is called done.

A firm working under the rule should also be able to tell you how it handles debris from painted surfaces, how it keeps the area closed off while people still live in the house, and how it checks the cleanup at the end. If a contractor brushes the question off, or proposes dry sanding of old paint without any plan for dust, treat that as an answer.

A kitchen is a hard room to live without, so ask early how the work area will be separated from the rest of the home and where you will cook in the meantime. The answers shape the schedule and how you plan meals, not only the safety plan.

What should I ask a contractor before a kitchen remodel in an older home?

Ask whether the firm holds EPA lead-safe certification, how it will set up and clean the work area, and how it handles demolition and any window work. Then ask for those answers in the written scope, not just over the phone. The list below keeps the conversation specific.

• Does your firm hold EPA lead-safe certification, and will you show me a copy?
• Do your subcontractors on this job, such as the electrician, plumber and painter, hold it too?
• Which painted surfaces will this job disturb, and roughly how many square feet per room?
• Does the scope include demolition of painted walls, soffits or cabinets, or a window replacement?
• How will the work area be closed off from the rest of the house, and for how long?
• How will debris leave the house, and how will you clean up at the end?
• Are any materials in the kitchen, such as old flooring, joint compound or pipe wrap, suspected to contain asbestos, and what is your plan if they are?

Our broader list of questions to ask a contractor covers license, insurance and payment, and in California you can look up a contractor on CSLB's site using our guide to checking a contractor's license. Before you sign, our page on the California home improvement contract explains what the written agreement must include. Texas homeowners can find the state's contract disclosure covered in our Dallas–Fort Worth kitchen remodel guide.

What about asbestos in an old kitchen?

Leave intact material alone. EPA's advice on asbestos is that material in good condition that is not disturbed should be left in place, and that you should never sand, saw or drill material that may contain it. If removal is needed, EPA says it belongs to trained, accredited professionals.

Older kitchens can hide several materials that raise the question: layers of old sheet flooring or tile under the current floor, textured ceilings, joint compound in old walls, and wrap on pipes or ducts. You often cannot tell by looking. If the remodel will cut, grind or pull up any of these, raise it before demolition rather than after the first wall is open. Sometimes the plan can leave an old floor sealed under a new one instead of tearing it out, which avoids disturbing it at all; that is a choice to talk over with the contractor and, where needed, an accredited professional.

Lead and asbestos are separate questions. A firm can hold EPA lead-safe certification and still not be the right company to remove asbestos, so ask about each one on its own.

How does this fit with the rest of a kitchen project?

Put the house's age into your plan on day one, alongside layout and appliances. The trades the job needs, the order of work and the paperwork all shift a little when painted surfaces will be disturbed in an older home, and those shifts are easier to plan than to discover halfway through.

A few kitchen decisions touch painted surfaces more than people expect. Venting a range hood outdoors can mean opening a wall or a soffit; our guide to range hood venting covers the venting rules themselves. Moving the sink or adding counter circuits opens walls. A refresh that keeps every cabinet box and only changes doors, counters and hardware may disturb far less, which is worth knowing when you weigh options. Our page on kitchen remodeling lays out the usual sequence, and the home renovation checklist helps you gather what bidders will ask for.

Keep copies of what each contractor sends you about lead-safe work, alongside the contract and any permits. If you sell the house later or rent it out, that record shows how the work was handled.

Where Contractor Near Me fits in

Contractor Near Me is a free request service for the San Francisco Bay Area and Dallas–Fort Worth. We are not a licensed contractor and we do not do the work, test for lead or remove asbestos. Tell us about your kitchen and when the house was built, and we call or email you back to talk through the project, which trades it points to, and what to ask each firm about lead-safe work before you sign. You can also reach us from the contact page, or read more guides on the blog.

Sources: U.S. EPA, Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Program (official), U.S. EPA, Renovation, Repair and Painting Program: Contractors (official), U.S. EPA, Protect Your Family from Exposures to Asbestos (official).