Painting a Pre-1970 Home: Lead Paint, Asbestos and What a Painter Must Not Do

If your house was built before 1970, there is a reasonable chance there is lead in the old paint. If it was built before 1990, there is a reasonable chance there is asbestos cement somewhere — the eaves, the cladding, an old shed or fence. Neither is a problem while it sits there undisturbed. Both become a problem the moment someone puts a sander on it.

This is the part of preparation nobody advertises, so here is what the Australian guidance actually says.

Lead paint: the date that matters

The Australian Paint Manufacturers’ Federation puts the practical line plainly: “Before 1970, paints containing high levels of lead were used in many Australian houses.”

Victoria’s Better Health Channel says the same, and adds the caveat worth knowing — homes built more recently may still have lead paint somewhere, because old stock kept being used after the formulations changed. So pre-1970 is the flag, but the date is a guide, not a guarantee in either direction.

What must not happen to old paint

The APMF’s guidance lists methods that are simply off the table on lead paint. Do not:

• dry sand, dry scrape, or use an ordinary power sander
• sandblast
• work outside on a wet or windy day
• use an open flame torch or a high-temperature heat gun
• eat, smoke or drink in the work area, or with contaminated hands

And the one that matters most for households, in their words: “don’t allow children, pregnant or nursing women in a house or area where lead-based paint is being disturbed.” Better Health Channel is equally direct — pregnant or breastfeeding women and children under five should not be present in work areas during renovation activities.

Where respiratory protection is used, it needs to meet Australian Standard 1716. A dust mask from the hardware aisle is not that.

The standard covering the whole job is AS/NZS 4361.2, Guide to hazardous paint management, Part 2: Lead paint in residential, public and commercial buildings. The APMF’s own advice for anything large or complicated is to bring in professional help.

Asbestos: the harder line

Asbestos cement was very common in Australian buildings before 1990 — eaves, soffits, cladding, fences, sheds. It is often already painted, and wanting to repaint it is completely normal.

Asbestos Victoria’s guidance on sealing, painting and coating asbestos cement products contains one unqualified sentence:

“Under no circumstances can ACM be water-blasted or dry-sanded in preparation for painting, coating or sealing.”

That single line rules out the two things most commonly done to an exterior before painting. It is also why “we’ll give it a quick blast and get a coat on” is a genuinely dangerous answer on a pre-1990 house.

What the guidance does permit for painting intact asbestos cement:

• An airless sprayer at low pressure is preferred over rollers or brushes on exposed or unsealed asbestos
• If a roller is used, use it lightly, to avoid abrasion or other damage
• Wet sanding only where all the runoff is captured and filtered where possible

Painting and sealing intact asbestos cement is not classified as asbestos removal work. Removing it is a different job with its own licensing rules, and it is not a painter’s call to make on the day.

How this changes a quote

On an older Melbourne home, this is where the honest conversation happens before a price:

• Age of the house, and whether anything has been re-clad since
• Condition of the existing paint — sound and intact is a very different job from flaking and chalking
• What the substrate actually is, particularly on eaves, soffits and outbuildings
• Which preparation methods are therefore available, and how much longer the compliant method takes

A quote on a 1950s weatherboard that assumes an afternoon of power sanding is not a cheaper quote. It is a different, and worse, job.

What we do

On any pre-1990 property we work out what we are dealing with before we quote a preparation method, and we will not water-blast or dry-sand material we believe may contain asbestos, or dry-sand paint we believe may contain lead. If testing is warranted, we will say so rather than guess. Where the compliant method takes longer, that time is in the written scope where you can see it.

We are painters, not a licensed asbestos removalist or a lead assessor. Where a job needs one of those, the right answer is to tell you, not to work around it.