Exterior Home Renovations: Health Risks Associated with Sand Blasting

Remodeling your home can be an exciting transformation. Whether you are remodeling the inside or the outside of the home, when the project is complete you will most likely feel as if you have moved into a new home.

For some homeowners, the decision to remodel the outside of the home may come at a time after a catastrophic event has damaged the exterior of the home, or the home is simply weathered from natural aging. When considering the renovation to an exterior of a home, many homeowners turn to the practice of sand blasting as part of the repainting process, creating a health hazard to the family.

Wood homes, or frame structured homes, are subject to the wear and tear of the elements. After many years, it is not uncommon to find that your home will require exterior repainting. If your home was built prior to 1950, there is an increased risk the weathered paint may contain high levels of lead. With lead-based paints commonly used prior to 1950, today many homeowners are finding there is a health risk with repainting a home of this age.

When renovating the exterior of a home that requires lead-based paint removal, it is important to hire a contractor who is familiar with the health risks and proper measures for removing this type of paint. To protect your family from health hazards related to lead based paint exposure, it may be necessary to seek temporary housing while the renovations are being done.

Even your family pets will require temporary housing during the renovation process. Because lead poisoning can lead to not only death in your family pet, and result in development and learning disabilities in children, your renovation project should be one that is considered carefully. For most families, residing in a home built prior to 1950 does not generally produce significant health risks even though lead-based paint may be present on the exterior. The health complication occurs when the lead based paint dust is released into the air during sand blasting as part of a renovation project.