Exterior paint costs in Rochester

If you rent out a house, or half of one, in Rochester, peeling exterior paint is more than a looks problem. The city's lead ordinance, in effect since July 1, 2006, covers most pre-1980 rental properties that need a Certificate of Occupancy. When an inspector finds deteriorated paint, inside or out, it has to get a protective covering, and any repair that disturbs paint has to follow lead-safe work practices.

In the city's high-risk area, the visual check isn't the end of it. Units that pass still get a dust wipe test. An owner can clean and retest only when fewer than half of the first wipe samples come back positive.

That 1980 line takes in most of the city: 86 percent of Rochester's homes are older than 1980. On houses that old, paint on porches, sills and trim has had decades to crack.

The ordinance is about rentals, so it won't send an inspector to a house you live in. It's still a useful yardstick for what peeling paint near a door or a window means on any house this old.

If a Certificate of Occupancy inspection is coming up on a rental, get the peeling clapboards scraped and covered before the inspector sees them, not after a notice.