Lead paint removal in Montgomery County, explained once and properly.
Search for lead paint help at the county level and the results are a strange mix: state regulatory pages, national directories, and lead-generation websites for companies that do not serve Maryland at all. Meanwhile the actual subject is concrete: which housing is covered, what the law requires and when, what the work costs, and who is allowed to perform it. This page answers those four questions for Montgomery County.
Which housing is covered
The dividing line is 1978, the year the federal government banned lead-based residential paint. The county’s covered stock concentrates in its older communities: the Victorian and craftsman neighborhoods of Takoma Park and Kensington, the post-war colonials and ramblers of Silver Spring and Wheaton, the pre-war and mid-century streets of Bethesdaand Rockville, and Gaithersburg’s Olde Towne. Rental units in that stock, roughly 67,650 of them, sit under Maryland’s Reduction of Lead Risk in Housing law; owner-occupied homes meet the rules mainly through renovation and sale.
What the law requires
For rentals: MDE registration, a lead inspection at every change of occupancy, correction of failures by accredited workers, clearance dust testing, and a current risk reduction certificate. The full cycle, including what it costs and where landlords lose money on it, is laid out on our landlord guide. For renovation on any pre-1978 home, rental or not, the federal RRP rule governs how contractors disturb painted surfaces. For deteriorated paint anywhere a child lives, Maryland’s health provisions give the problem teeth regardless of tenure; our peeling paint page covers that situation.
What it costs and who may do it
Our cost guide publishes the working ranges for every service from testing to full abatement, which no other operator in this market currently does. The work itself belongs to MDE-accredited contractors, with clearance by independent accredited inspectors; there are over a hundred accredited abatement contractors statewide, and the accreditation number is the credential to ask any bidder for. We arrange all work under those accreditations and put the number on the quote.
County questions, answered straight
How much Montgomery County housing actually has lead paint?
The county has about 408,680 housing units and roughly a third are rentals. Around 55 percent of rental stock predates 1980, putting roughly 67,650 rental units under the Maryland lead law, plus a large owner-occupied pre-1978 stock on top. Presence of lead paint is common in that pool; whether it is a hazard depends on condition, which is what testing measures.
Is the law different in Montgomery County than the rest of Maryland?
The core statute is statewide. What differs locally: the City of Rockville and some municipalities run their own rental licensing on top, county code enforcement responds to deteriorated paint complaints, and voucher units add federal HQS checks. Compliance built to the state standard carries the local layers with the paperwork kept straight.
Who is legally allowed to do lead paint work here?
For covered rental properties, correction work must be done by contractors accredited by the Maryland Department of the Environment, and clearance testing by independent MDE-accredited inspectors. For renovation on any pre-1978 home, contractors must follow the federal EPA RRP rule. Asking for the accreditation number is a fair test of any bidder.
What does lead work cost in this county?
Inspections run a few hundred dollars; component-level correction $1,700 to $5,000; typical rental compliance packages $2,500 to $6,000; full interior abatement $8,000 to $15,000; exteriors up to $21,000 on the oldest frame housing. We publish the full table on our cost page, which no other operator in this market does.
Where is the county’s lead risk concentrated?
In the older housing bands: Takoma Park and Kensington’s pre-war stock, close-in Silver Spring and Wheaton’s post-war rentals, Rockville’s older neighborhoods, and Gaithersburg’s Olde Towne core. The newer up-county areas mostly post-date the ban. Our area pages cover each stock era specifically.
Somewhere in the county and need an answer?
Testing first, written quote after, anywhere in Montgomery County.
Get a lead quoteOr call (301) 610-3977.