If you live in a home built before 1978 (before lead-based paints were outlawed), there is a good chance your home contains lead-based paints and plumbing, unfortunately. The older a home is, the higher the risk of lead being present and posing potential harms, particularly during the dusty, messy business of remodeling. So, if you’ve been eyeing an older, historic beauty as a fixer-upper, or you want to have your older home remodeled, it is absolutely essential to your family’s safety to have it done correctly by a remodeling firm with expertise in lead removal and containment. MainStreet Design Build is an EPA Lead-Safe Certified Remodeling Firm in Birmingham, Michigan, with the expertise necessary to “get the lead out” and keep your family safe. When you work with us, you can expect these 5 important benefits:
Expertise in Lead Removal and Containment
Remodeling projects usually require a great deal of drilling, cutting, sanding and removing of old construction materials. Naturally, these processes create a considerable amount of dust, which is one of the most common ways that people can be exposed to lead. Even tiny amounts of exposure to lead-based paint chips or dust can poison children and cause long-term health problems. There is no “safe” level of lead exposure for anyone, particularly young children.
Before remodeling, we thoroughly test and evaluate the lead situation in your home, particularly the areas where work will take place. We also put in place lead containment measures to ensure that the disruptions of remodeling do not disperse lead into your air, soil and other surfaces. We then safely remove or contain the old lead elements to keep them away from your family.
About containment: sometimes it’s actually safer to contain lead with an encapsulating primer and several coats of lead-safe paint than it is to remove old lead-based paint. On the other hand, sometimes removal is the only good option. Working with an EPA Lead-Safe Certified Remodeling Firm is the safest way to get the right solution for every step of your home remodeling project.
The EPA has established procedures and protocols for minimizing lead exposure during remodeling and renovation projects. Using an un-certified a firm can have severe health consequences for your family. Don’t risk your family’s health. MainStreet Design Build takes these procedures very seriously and has been certified by the EPA in its lead containment and removal techniques and practices.
Understanding All of the Sources of Potential Lead Contamination
Inexperienced remodelers may not know exactly what all the potential sources of lead could be. Installing new windows, for example, necessitates the removal of the old ones, which will disturb paint and other, older materials that could contain lead. Even many old windows contain lead! A certified lead-safe contractor will understand how even “minor” remodeling projects could impact lead exposure, and they will know how to mitigate the problem to keep your family safe.
Preventing Both Indoor and Outdoor Lead Contamination
One of the most important things to understand about lead contamination is that a remodeling project not only impacts the indoor amounts of lead that could harm you, but also the lead that may escape into your yard and outdoor spaces. Leaded dust and paint chips that settle in the soil can have just as harmful an effect on children and people who spend time outdoors (gardening, for example) as the dust on an inside windowsill. Our Birmingham lead-safe certified design/build firm uses all means necessary to prevent lead exposure, both indoors and outdoors, during remodeling projects.
Ongoing Education Necessary to Stay Certified
Contractors who are certified by the EPA as “lead-safe certified” have to follow a set of established rules and protocols on each job. That means we submit an official application with the EPA, pay fees and receive specialized training in lead removal, containment and exposure prevention that touches all areas of construction and remodeling. In addition, we are required to update our training every five years in order to stay certified. We are also bound, by the terms set forth by the EPA, to have at least one certified employee assigned to each project, and each project must only be performed by correctly-trained professionals. This process helps us continue learning about new technologies and techniques that further minimize your family’s exposure to lead before, during and after any remodeling project.
In addition to keeping ourselves educated and trained in the ongoing effort to remove lead exposure from homes across Southeast Oakland County, MI, we also educate our clients about lead risks and our means of reducing them through renovation and remodeling. Educating our clients empowers them to make smart choices that help them keep lead away from their families.
Increasing Home Values
If you are looking to sell your home, being able to verify that your remodeling was done by an EPA lead-safe certified design/build firm will be an extra bonus on your pre-sale inspections. It also provides peace of mind to potential buyers that they may not find with other homes they’re looking at.
Finally: Peace of Mind for Homeowners in Birmingham, MI
The most important thing to know about working with an EPA lead-safe certified design/build firm is that you will have the peace of mind knowing that your remodeling project was done to the highest safety standards, with all of the best technologies and techniques available for reducing the lead in your home. Your family’s safety is our top priority, right along with creating the most beautiful and functional remodeling projects in Southeast Oakland County.
Please contact MainStreet Design Build (248-644-6330) to learn more about our lead-safe procedures and schedule a design consultation today. Also, take a few moments to peruse our design gallery to see how we’ve beautified homes around Birmingham. Particularly spend a few moments looking at the historic homes we’ve renovated to see how gorgeous a lead-safe remodeling job can be!