If your home was built before 1978, there's a reasonable chance lead paint is somewhere in it. In MetroWest Boston — where towns like Holliston, Medway, Dover, and Needham have significant housing stock from the 1950s, 60s, and 70s — this comes up in painting projects regularly.
Most of the time, lead paint in good condition isn't an emergency. What matters is understanding when it becomes a legal requirement to address, what your actual options are, and what to ask a contractor before anyone picks up a brush or scraper.
Quick answer: Massachusetts law requires deleading or achieving Interim Control status within 90 days if a child under 6 lives in a pre-1978 home. If no young children are present, the law is less prescriptive — but renovation work that disturbs lead paint triggers EPA contractor certification requirements regardless.
Does Your Home Have Lead Paint?
The simplest indicator is age. Lead paint was banned for residential use in the United States in 1978. If your home was built before then, assume lead paint is present somewhere until a test says otherwise — particularly on windows, doors, trim, and any painted surface subject to friction or impact.
You have two reliable testing options:
- DIY swab test kits — available at hardware stores for around $10 to $30. These give a quick yes/no result but don't tell you how much lead is present or exactly where.
- Professional lead inspection — a licensed Massachusetts lead inspector tests surfaces throughout the home and produces a formal report. Inspections run $395 to $1,250 depending on home size. This is what's required if you're pursuing legal deleading compliance.
Massachusetts Lead Law: The Child Under 6 Trigger
Massachusetts has one of the strictest lead paint laws in the country. The key trigger: if a child under 6 lives in, regularly visits, or will live in a pre-1978 residential property, the owner is legally required to delead or achieve Interim Control within 90 days of learning about the child's presence.
This applies to homeowners and landlords. Failure to comply creates strict liability for any damages if the child develops lead poisoning — meaning fault doesn't have to be proven, just the presence of lead and a harm.
If no child under 6 is present, the law doesn't mandate proactive deleading. But it does kick in the moment that changes — new baby, visiting grandchildren, or a family member moving in with young kids.
Painting Over Lead Paint: What's Actually Legal
A common question: can you just paint over lead paint?
The short answer is: sometimes yes, but not with just any paint, and not on certain surfaces.
Encapsulation — applying an approved encapsulant over intact lead paint — is a legal option in Massachusetts under specific conditions. But it requires a licensed inspector to assess the surfaces first, and only Massachusetts-registered encapsulant products qualify. Standard exterior or interior paint does not count as encapsulation under the law.
Critically, encapsulation is not permitted on friction surfaces — door edges, window jambs, stair treads, or any surface where paint is subject to regular abrasion. These surfaces must be fully deleaded because friction creates lead dust, which is how exposure actually happens.
Full deleading — removing or permanently covering lead paint through methods like replacement, chemical stripping, or enclosure — averages $8,000 to $20,000 in the Boston area for a whole-home project, though smaller scopes (a single room or specific surfaces) typically run $2,000 to $5,000.
The EPA RRP Rule: What It Means When You Hire a Contractor
Even if Massachusetts lead law doesn't require you to delead right now, federal EPA rules kick in the moment a contractor does renovation, repair, or painting work that disturbs more than 6 square feet of interior painted surface (or 20 square feet exterior) in a pre-1978 home.
Under the Renovation, Repair, and Painting (RRP) Rule:
- The contracting firm must be EPA-certified
- A certified renovator must be on-site or available
- Specific containment, cleanup, and waste disposal procedures are required
- Cleaning verification records must be provided
Before hiring any painter for work in a pre-1978 home, ask directly: "Is your firm EPA-certified for RRP work, and do you have a certified renovator on staff?" A legitimate contractor should be able to provide their certification number without hesitation.
What We Do on Pre-1978 Homes
In 15 years of painting across MetroWest Boston, we've worked in plenty of homes with lead paint. Our approach is straightforward: we identify what's present, explain the legal requirements that apply to your specific situation, and work within the proper compliance framework.
For projects where RRP rules apply, we follow EPA-certified procedures — containment, HEPA vacuuming, cleaning verification. We don't cut corners on this, and we don't expect clients to ask us to.
If you're planning a painting project and you know or suspect your home has lead paint, the right first step is a professional inspection — not guessing, and not assuming the previous contractor handled it. We can point you toward licensed inspectors in the area and help you understand what the results mean for your project scope.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Massachusetts require lead paint removal in older homes?
Massachusetts law requires deleading or Interim Control within 90 days if a child under 6 lives in or regularly visits a pre-1978 home. For homeowners without young children present, proactive deleading isn't legally required — but EPA RRP rules still apply to any contractor doing renovation work that disturbs lead paint.
Can you paint over lead paint in Massachusetts?
Encapsulation with a Massachusetts-registered product is permitted on intact, non-friction surfaces after a licensed inspector assesses them. Standard paint does not qualify as legal encapsulation. Friction surfaces — doors, windows, stairs — must be fully deleaded, not painted over.
How much does lead paint removal cost in Massachusetts?
Full whole-home deleading runs $8,000 to $20,000 in the Greater Boston area. Smaller scopes — a single room or specific surfaces — typically cost $2,000 to $5,000. Lead inspections cost $395 to $1,250 depending on home size.
What should I ask a painting contractor about lead paint?
Ask whether their firm is EPA-certified for Renovation, Repair, and Painting work, whether they have a certified renovator on staff, and whether they use proper containment and HEPA cleanup procedures. Ask for their certification number. A legitimate contractor answers these questions easily.
How do I know if my home has lead paint?
Any home built before 1978 should be assumed to have lead paint somewhere until tested. DIY swab test kits ($10–$30) give a basic yes/no result. A professional lead inspection ($395–$1,250) produces a formal report required for legal deleading compliance in Massachusetts.
Have questions about an upcoming project in a home that might have lead paint? Give us a call at (774) 217-9567 — we're happy to walk through what we'd need to do to handle it correctly.
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David Griffiths
