NovatoLead Paint Removal
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Lead Paint Removal in Novato

Whether a Novato house has lead paint comes down to one date. Lead-based paint was banned from residential sale in 1978, and the 2020-2024 American Community Survey puts 64.5% of Novato’s homes before 1980. Novato Lead Paint Removal is here for the owners of those houses: testing first, then removal, sealing or lead-safe repair, whichever the results support. Only 5.9% of the city’s homes predate 1950; the biggest groups were built in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.

Responsibility is split in California. CDPH certifies lead inspectors and the workers who carry out abatement; the EPA certifies firms that renovate or repaint, since the state has no renovation program yet. Search results for Novato show painters and restoration firms rather than lead specialists, so before anyone scrapes an old house, ask for proof of EPA firm certification.

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Two-story Victorian house with painted wood siding and ornate trim, a ladder against the porch and plastic sheeting on the ground in front
Lead paint inspection and testingExterior lead paint removalLead paint window and door workLead-safe renovation and remodelingLead paint encapsulation

Lead paint services

Floor plan, sample containers and a tape measure on a desk beside a painted windowClose-up of an eave, fascia and window trim on an older wood-sided house with layers of white paint peeling and cracking

Lead paint inspection and testing

Knowing which surfaces hold lead lets you spend money only where it matters. A certified inspector samples the painted parts of the house and reports component by component; a risk assessment goes further and judges what is flaking, rubbing or shedding dust right now. California law requires certification for paid evaluations, and the written report is what lenders, tenants and contractors ask to see.

Exterior lead paint removal

On the outside of an older house, lead can lie under later coats on wood siding, stucco, eaves, fascia, trim and railings. The first step is a catch sheet on the ground and a barrier at the wall: in California, disturbing lead paint without that protection is itself a lead hazard. Abatement also requires a written notice to CDPH before it begins.

Old divided-light wood windows with flaking paint on the sills and sashes, set in wood shingle sidingInterior door frame and baseboard with layered old paint, room prepared with plastic sheeting

Lead paint window and door work

Sashes slide, doors swing, and each motion grinds a little paint. The EPA covers any window replacement in a pre-1978 home, whatever its size. If you would rather keep the originals, they can be stripped and restored with the debris controlled and the sill cleaned to a standard afterward.

Lead-safe renovation and remodeling

Kitchen remodels, garage conversions and bedroom repaints in pre-1978 houses stir up old paint without counting as abatement. In California the EPA rule is the one in force: certified firm, trained renovator, sealed work area, cleaning check at the end. CDPH reports that its own SB 1076 renovation regulations remain in development.

Older painted plaster wall below a cracked painted wood window sill, partly recoated in white, with a roller tray and brush on a drop cloth

Lead paint encapsulation

Intact old paint may not need to come off. Sealing it under a bonded coating or hiding it behind new board are the alternatives, and California sorts them by how long they are built to last: at 20 years or more the work is abatement (certified workers, written plan); under 20 it is an interim control.

Lead paint testing and removal costs

Each line is hired labor plus materials and any lab fees for a typical job in Novato, San Rafael and Petaluma, one line per job size. A small, easy job sits near the low end. The open top end is for more painted parts, high or detailed work, rotten wood found under the paint, or a failed clearance test that means cleaning again.

Lead paint inspection and testing

  • Test of the rooms or parts a project will touch$300 – $700+
  • Whole house up to 2,500 sq ft$350 – $975+
  • Large house over 2,500 sq ft$575 – $1,250+
  • Risk assessment with dust and soil samples, one house$700 – $2,000+
  • Clearance test after lead work$250 – $700+
What is included

Readings or paint chips from each type of painted surface, or dust and soil samples for a risk assessment, and a written report of what tests positive and what does not. Rush reports and extra lab samples cost more.

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Exterior lead paint removal

  • Eaves and fascia on one side, about 100 sq ft$950 – $2,350+
  • Porch and railings, about 150 sq ft$1,600 – $4,500+
  • One-story house, peeling trim, eaves and siding or stucco$5,750 – $16,250+
  • Two-story house$11,500 – $34,500+
What is included

Plastic on the ground and around the wall, loose paint misted and scraped or stripped from eaves, fascia, trim, siding and stucco, waste bagged, primer and paint on the bare wood, and a check for chips and dust at the end. Rotten wood, stucco repair and scaffolding cost extra.

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Lead paint window and door removal

  • One window replaced$475 – $1,425+
  • About 4 windows replaced$1,650 – $4,900+
  • About 10 windows replaced$4,800 – $14,400+
  • One or two old windows or doors stripped and restored, originals kept$700 – $2,050+
What is included

Old windows or doors taken out with plastic inside and out and new units fitted, or the originals stripped, repaired and repainted, then cleanup and a check of the sills. Custom sizes and period doors cost more.

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Lead-safe renovation and remodeling (add-on)

  • Small repair, one room$500 – $1,250+
  • Kitchen or bathroom remodel$1,550 – $4,500+
  • Several rooms or a whole floor$3,800 – $10,750+
What is included

What lead-safe work adds to a remodel, repair or repaint in a pre-1978 home: rooms sealed with plastic, old paint misted before it is disturbed, HEPA vacuuming, cleaning each day and at the end, a cleaning check and waste bagged. The project itself is priced separately.

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Lead paint encapsulation

  • About 300 sq ft of trim and walls sealed, one room or the outside trim$1,400 – $4,100+
  • About 1,000 sq ft sealed, several rooms or one outside wall$4,600 – $13,800+
  • One room's walls covered with new drywall, about 350 sq ft$3,200 – $7,750+
What is included

Loose paint misted and scraped, then a coating made to seal lead paint over sound walls and trim, or new drywall over the walls. Work meant to last 20 years or more adds a written plan and a clearance test.

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Ranges are 2026 estimates, not quotes. Your written estimate is free and comes after we have seen the home.

Our process

01

Pin down the build year

The 1970s are Novato’s largest decade for home building, and 1978 falls inside it. A house from that decade could be on either side, so look up the original permit or the recorded sale history instead of guessing. Remodels do not rewrite the age of what is behind them.

02

Test the surfaces involved

Under the EPA rule, untested pre-1978 paint is presumed to contain lead, so repairs can proceed without a test. We still advise sampling before demolition or scraping. The sampler should be a certified inspector, and may not be the same party that later removes the paint from that building.

03

Pick a path

What the results mean in practice: remove the paint or lock it away for 20 years or more (permanent abatement), stabilize it for a shorter stretch (an interim control), or leave it alone and work around it with lead-safe renovation methods when another project is the goal.

04

Notice, protection and sign-off

Safeguards on an abatement job fall into three stages. Before: CDPH Form 8551, delivered at least five days early and displayed at the work area. During: containment, with no visible dust or debris left behind once the job ends. After: clearance, which confirms permanent abatement.

Older homes in Novato

Novato has about 21,000 homes, and roughly 13,500 predate 1980: about 2,850 are 1950s houses, 3,700 are 1960s and 5,700 are 1970s, with about 1,250 older than 1950. Single-family homes are seven in ten and renters a third of households, so owner-occupied houses make up the larger share.

Some of the oldest buildings in town are not houses. Hamilton Army Air Field, begun in 1932, left stucco buildings in a Spanish Eclectic style that the National Park Service describes as a historic district. Our research found no Novato preservation ordinance, which is not proof there is none, so check with the city’s planning staff before altering the exterior of any older or designated building.

Census Reporter: Novato housing (ACS 2020-2024)National Park Service: Hamilton Army Air Field Discontiguous Historic District

California and Marin County rules

A local enforcement agency can order a lead hazard corrected under State Housing Law. Title 17 spells out what counts: flaking lead paint, lead dust, contaminated soil and paint disturbed without barriers. Our search found no Novato lead ordinance; since searches can miss one, confirm with the city whenever a permit is involved.

For current programs and any help with lead in a home, ask Marin County Health and Human Services, which runs a childhood lead poisoning prevention program at (415) 473-4163. Eligibility and funding are the county’s to confirm, not ours.

CDPH: California lead statutesCDPH: county childhood lead programs directory

Novato and nearby North Bay cities

Beyond Novato, two neighbors have their own pages. San Rafael is Marin’s oldest city, with 71.2% of homes before 1980 and 47% of households renting. Petaluma lies across the county line in Sonoma County, at 52.2% before 1980.

Frequently asked questions

Can my painter remove lead paint?

Only if the credentials match the job. A firm doing paid work that disturbs paint in a pre-1978 home needs EPA renovation certification and a certified renovator on site; permanent abatement instead calls for CDPH-certified supervisors and workers. Ask a painter for the EPA certificate, and for CDPH credentials if the work is abatement.

How can I confirm an inspector is certified?

CDPH posts lists of certified lead professionals sorted by certification type, with expiry dates. Evaluations need an Inspector/Assessor; a Project Monitor may handle clearance alone. Renovation firms are certified by the EPA, so you will not find them on the CDPH lists.

Will Marin County pay for lead paint removal?

We cannot promise funding of any kind. Ask Marin County Health and Human Services about current programs and eligibility; its childhood lead poisoning prevention program is at (415) 473-4163.

Does 1978 count as lead-free?

Federal rules stop at houses finished in 1978 or later. But the census lumps all of the 1970s into one group, and Novato built more in that decade than any other. If yours is a late-1970s house, track down the permit or sale record to see which side it falls on.

Is ordinary paint enough to cover old lead paint?

Not by design. Encapsulants are formulated to bond and seal; standard paint is not. Sealing makes sense only for sound paint, and loose paint has to be handled first, which disturbs lead. A test result tells you whether sealing is realistic.

Request a free lead paint removal quote

Where is the property, and when did it go up? We also need the plan (repaint, remodel, garage conversion, sale or rental), whether children live there and what lead paperwork exists. We'll get back to you soon with an estimate or any questions we have. Estimates are free and there's no obligation.

Call (628) 214-2107

Call (628) 214-2107