Golden State Mold Inspections provides bulk lead paint testing in Los Angeles and across Los Angeles County. We take paint chip samples from the surfaces you are concerned about, an accredited laboratory measures the amount of lead in them, and you get a written result.
We do not carry out lead abatement or removal. We test, we report, and what happens next is your decision.
Lead Paint in Homes Built Before 1978
Lead-based paint was banned for residential use in the United States in 1978. Any property built before then can contain lead paint, and in Los Angeles that covers an enormous share of the housing stock. Older neighborhoods across the county are almost entirely pre-1978, inside and outside of your home alike, since exterior paint was often the worst offender.
Paint that is intact and in good condition is generally low risk and is usually best left alone and monitored. The danger arrives when it starts to deteriorate, or when somebody disturbs it.
Why Lead Is Especially Dangerous for Young Children
Lead exposure is a serious health hazard and it is not evenly distributed. Young children and pregnant women are the most affected, because a small child absorbs lead more readily and a developing brain is more vulnerable to it. The CDC states that no safe blood lead level in children has been identified.
The route of exposure is rarely what people assume. Children do not usually eat paint chips. They get lead dust on their hands from a windowsill, a floor or a toy and then put their hands in their mouths. Friction surfaces like windows and doors grind paint into fine particles every time they are opened, which is why those surfaces matter more than a flat wall in good condition.
If you are worried about a child’s exposure rather than a building, that is a conversation for your pediatrician, who can order a blood lead test. We test buildings, not people.
When You Need Lead Paint Testing
Renovation and Home Repairs
This is the most common reason. Sanding, scraping, cutting or demolishing painted surfaces in an older property turns intact paint into airborne lead dust, and it contaminates the space quickly.
Under the EPA Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule, contractors working on pre-1978 housing and child-occupied facilities must be certified and follow lead-safe work practices where lead paint is present or presumed. Testing establishes which it is. Finding out that a surface is lead-free can remove that requirement from a job; finding out that it is not tells your contractor how to work.
Buying, Selling and Renting
Sellers and landlords of pre-1978 housing are required to disclose known lead-based paint to buyers and tenants. A general home inspection does not test for it.
Buyers commissioning testing during a contingency period, and landlords who want to know what is in a property before a tenant asks, are both routine work for us. So is the reverse: an owner who wants documentation that a property is clear.
Deteriorating Paint
Chipping, flaking, peeling or chalking paint in an older property is worth testing regardless of whether any work is planned, particularly around windows, door frames, porches and railings.
How We Test: Bulk Paint Chip Sampling
We collect bulk samples, meaning a physical chip of the paint layers is removed from a defined location and sent to an accredited laboratory for analysis. The lab reports the concentration of lead in the sample.
Bulk Sampling Compared With XRF
There are two common approaches and it is worth understanding the difference before you book anyone.
An XRF analyzer is a handheld instrument that reads lead through the paint layers on the spot, without damaging the surface, and gives an instant result. It is fast and non-destructive, and in California operating one for a formal lead inspection requires state certification.
Bulk paint chip sampling removes a small amount of material and sends it to a lab. It leaves a mark where the sample was taken and results take a few business days, but the analysis is a direct laboratory measurement and it is generally the more economical route when you have a handful of specific surfaces to check rather than a whole house to survey.
For most homeowners with a defined question, a few bulk samples answer it. If you need a full room-by-room inspection of every painted surface, XRF is the better tool and we will tell you so.
Paint in Good Condition Does Not Always Need Removing
A result confirming lead paint is not automatically a demolition project. Where the paint is intact and undisturbed, the usual recommendation is to leave it in place, keep it in good condition, and manage it rather than remove it. Encapsulation and covering are also options short of full lead abatement.
Removal done badly is worse than leaving it alone, because sanding and dry scraping generate exactly the dust you are trying to avoid. That is the whole reason the certification rules exist.
Lead Free Homes LA
Worth knowing about even though it sends some readers elsewhere. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health runs a program called Lead Free Homes LA which provides free lead inspection and lead paint hazard remediation for eligible properties built before 1978, aimed particularly at households with young children.
Eligibility depends on the property, the location and the household, so check directly with the county. If you qualify, use it. We would rather tell you about a free county service than sell you a test you did not need.
Lead, Asbestos and Mold in One Visit
These questions arrive together because they come from the same buildings. Lead paint was banned in 1978 and asbestos was phased out over roughly the same period, so any property old enough for one is old enough for the other, and both usually surface when somebody plans a renovation.
We sample for lead alongside asbestos surveys and mold inspection and testing during a single visit, analyzed by the same laboratory, reported together. One appointment instead of three.
What Lead Paint Testing Costs
Cost follows the number of samples, since the laboratory charges per sample. Testing two windowsills and a door frame is a small job. Sampling every painted component in an apartment building is not.
Call and describe what you are dealing with and you will get a figure before anything is booked. If the honest answer is that you need three samples rather than fifteen, that is what you will hear.
Book Lead Paint Testing in Los Angeles
We provide bulk lead paint testing throughout Los Angeles County and Orange County, for houses, apartments, rental property and commercial premises, and we can combine it with asbestos or mold sampling on the same visit.
If you are not sure whether your property needs testing, call and describe it. We will tell you honestly whether it is worth doing.