Flooring contractors in Delaware County, PA: 1950s homes, lead dust and complaints
Updated · KeystoneProGuide editorial team
What should Delaware County homeowners know before a flooring job?
That the house is probably old enough for lead and asbestos to be real questions. The county's health department says the average Delaware County home was built in 1956, and the Census Bureau estimates that 22.1 percent of its 229,715 housing units were first built in 1939 or earlier. Only 3.5 percent have been built since 2010, the smallest share of the five counties in and around Philadelphia.
Why does the age of a Delco home matter when floors are sanded?
Because sanding makes dust, and in an older home some of the surfaces around a floor may carry lead paint. The county says lead-based paint was not banned for homes until 1978, that paint in homes built before then should be assumed to contain lead unless testing shows otherwise, and that all repairs that disturb paint in such homes should be done by a lead-certified contractor. That matches the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule, which requires anyone paid to disturb painted surfaces in a pre-1978 home to be certified and their workers trained.
The county's own figures show why it treats this as a local issue. It reports that 37 of its 49 municipalities, nearly 76 percent, have had at least one child under 16 with a blood-lead level at or above the benchmark of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It also lists carpentry and remodeling among the jobs that can cause lead exposure.
Wood dust is a separate concern even where there is no lead. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration says airborne particles from sanding and cutting wood may cause respiratory symptoms and cancer, though the extent of the hazards has not been clearly established. Ask any refinisher how dust will be contained and collected, and how the rest of the house will be sealed off.
Can the county test a home before work starts?
Possibly. Delaware County's Lead Free 1-2-3 program invites residents to apply for a free home lead inspection and remediation. The county describes a lead-based paint inspection as the test that tells you whether, and where, a home has lead paint, and says it is most useful before renovating. A risk assessment, by contrast, tells you whether there are lead hazards now. If you are about to have painted stairs, baseboards or an old painted floor sanded, the inspection is the one to ask about.
What about old resilient flooring in postwar Delco houses?
The county says there was considerable residential building after the First World War in Upper Darby, Drexel Hill, Havertown and Springfield, continuing after the Second World War in places such as Westbrook Park and Marple Township. Before an old floor in a house of that age is torn up, it helps to know what it is made of. The EPA lists vinyl floor tiles, the backing on vinyl sheet flooring and adhesives among materials that may contain asbestos, and says exposure generally happens when such material is disturbed. If a quote calls for scraping up old tiles or the adhesive beneath them, ask for the materials to be identified first; the state's rules on who may remove asbestos are in what Pennsylvania requires of flooring contractors.
Does house value affect the budget here?
It shapes it. The Census Bureau puts the median value of an owner-occupied Delaware County home at $332,200 and the median size at 6.3 rooms, smaller than in Bucks, Chester or Montgomery. There is no published Delco price for flooring work; national ranges, including refinishing against replacement, are in the cost guide.
Where can you complain in Delaware County?
To the county's Office of Consumer Affairs, which offers voluntary mediation and takes complaints about home repair and remodeling, among other things. It refers suspected criminal or fraudulent conduct to the District Attorney or the Attorney General. The office is in the Government Center Building, 201 West Front Street, Media, and its number is 610-891-4865.
With 30.4 percent of occupied homes rented, many Delco flooring jobs are arranged by landlords. The EPA's lead rule applies to a landlord's work on a pre-1978 rental, and a tenant can raise it with the landlord first. Before anyone signs, the Attorney General's contractor search shows whether a business is registered. Businesses that serve the county are listed on the Delaware County flooring contractors page.
Sources
- 2020-2024 ACS 5-Year Narrative Profile: Delaware County, Pennsylvania, U.S. Census Bureau
- 2020-2024 ACS 5-Year Narrative Profile: Pennsylvania, U.S. Census Bureau
- Lead Free 1-2-3, Delaware County
- Your County at a Glance: History, Delaware County
- Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Program, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
- Wood Dust - Overview, U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration
- Learn About Asbestos, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
- Consumer Affairs/Weights & Measures, Delaware County
- Home Improvement Contractor Search, Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General