Grand Prairie Lead Paint Removal plans lead paint removal in DeSoto, with lead paint inspection and testing, removal of failing exterior and interior paint, window and brick work, and encapsulation for houses built before 1978. The first step in DeSoto is confirming the build year, because the city’s older homes cluster in the 1960s and 1970s, close to the 1978 line.
DeSoto had 1,969 residents at the 1960 census and 6,617 in 1970, then 15,538 in 1980; the 2020-2024 American Community Survey estimates about 56,200 today. The same survey dates 21% of its roughly 21,700 homes before 1980, about 4,580 houses, and only about 400 before 1960.
Lead paint on the old siding; the boards are sound under it
Wall area
About 1,500 sq ft of siding around the house
Method
Loose paint scraped, house wrap, primed lap boards fixed over the old siding
Estimated cost
$15,800
In this example, the owners of a 1960s wood-sided house in DeSoto are tired of paint peeling off the siding. A test shows lead paint on the old boards, but the wood under it is sound.
DeSoto has about 2,830 homes from the 1970s, and the federal lead rules split that decade: homes built before 1978 are covered by the EPA renovation rule and the disclosure rule, and those from 1978 on are not. A house from 1976 and one from 1979 can look alike on the same street. Pull the appraisal record or original permit before deciding whether a repaint or remodel needs lead-safe work, and test if the year falls before 1978.
Inspection and testing
When the house is old enough, a DSHS-certified inspector can test each type of painted surface, inside and out, and report which carry lead-based paint. That report also frees negative surfaces from the renovation rule. Our lead paint inspection page explains the full inspection, testing just the surfaces a job will touch, and when a risk assessment fits better.
Rental homes and city inspections
DeSoto’s rental registration and inspection ordinance, adopted February 23, 2021, requires residential rental units in the city to be registered so staff can schedule inspections, at $10 per unit. The city describes it as a way to bring new and aging rental units up to health, safety, fire and zoning codes. Its page does not list lead paint, so treat the city inspection and the federal lead rules as two separate tracks.
Removal of failing paint
Peeling paint on exterior trim, eaves and siding, and chipped paint on interior doors and window frames, can be stripped or the parts replaced. Removal meant to eliminate lead permanently is abatement, which in Texas means a DSHS-certified firm, written notice filed with DSHS at least seven working days ahead of the start, and a household that sleeps elsewhere until clearance. Exterior choices are set out under peeling exterior lead paint, and window parts under lead paint on window sills and frames.
When DeSoto homes were built
DeSoto’s population more than doubled in the 1970s, from 6,617 to 15,538, and kept climbing after that. The housing survey shows the 1980s as the city’s largest building decade, with about 5,090 homes, followed by the 2000s and the 1990s, so the typical DeSoto house is newer than the 1978 cutoff.
For lead purposes the relevant numbers are smaller: about 2,830 homes from the 1970s, 1,340 from the 1960s and roughly 400 older than that. Those 4,580 or so pre-1980 homes, about one in five, are where testing matters, and the newest of them sit right at the 1978 line. Houses built in the 1980s and later are outside the federal lead paint rules.
Rental owners in DeSoto answer to city and federal rules at the same time, and the two do not overlap on lead.
What the city inspection covers
The city’s program sets minimum standards for rental units against health, safety, fire and zoning codes and gives landlords a registration route through its Civic Access Portal, or a paper form by appointment. The city publishes an inspection checklist with the program documents. We found no lead item on the program page, so a passed city inspection is not a lead clearance.
Lead rules that still apply
For a pre-1978 rental, the federal disclosure rule requires the EPA pamphlet, disclosure of known lead-based paint and reports, and a lead warning statement in each covered lease. Paid repairs that disturb more than 6 square feet of paint in a room or 20 square feet outside, and any window replacement, fall under the EPA renovation rule, which covers rental owners and managers as well as contractors. Fixing items flagged at a city inspection can trigger it.
For a pre-1978 DeSoto house, settle the build year, then decide whether you need a full inspection or only the surfaces a project will disturb. Exterior jobs run more easily in spring and fall than in a North Texas summer. For a rental, schedule work between tenants where possible, since abatement firms must keep occupants out while they work. Whatever path you choose, keep the test report and any clearance or cleaning verification record with the house papers for a future sale or lease.
Possibly. Paint sold for homes could still contain lead until the 1978 federal ban, so any coat put on a DeSoto house before then may carry it. Federal rules treat housing built before 1978 as possibly containing lead-based paint, and only testing settles it for a particular surface. In DeSoto the question applies to about 2,830 homes built in the 1970s, minus those finished in 1978 and 1979.
Does DeSoto inspect rental homes?
Yes. Under the rental registration and inspection ordinance adopted in February 2021, residential rental units in DeSoto must be registered, at $10 per unit, so the city can schedule inspections against health, safety, fire and zoning codes. The program page does not list lead-based paint, so a passed inspection says nothing about lead.
Is a 1980s DeSoto home covered by lead paint rules?
No. The EPA renovation rule and the federal disclosure rule apply to housing built before 1978, so a house from the 1980s, DeSoto’s largest building decade, is outside both. You can still have paint tested if you are curious. Lead in soil or in some imported goods is a separate issue outside our work. Go by the original construction year, not the date of a later addition.
Do I need a permit to replace windows in DeSoto?
Ask the city before ordering. We have not found a DeSoto page that says which window replacements need a building permit, so confirm with DeSoto building inspections for your address. Separately, replacing windows in a house built before 1978 is always covered by the EPA renovation rule, regardless of how much paint is disturbed.
Duncanville, DeSoto’s neighbor, did most of its growing before 1980 and has a far bigger share of pre-1980 houses; our page on lead paint removal in Duncanville covers it.
Request a free lead paint removal quote
Send the DeSoto address and build year, which surfaces are failing, and whether the house is a rental due for a city inspection. Mention young children in the home and any earlier lead test. We'll get back to you soon with an estimate or any questions we have. Estimates are free and there's no obligation.
