Renovating and remodeling twenty-year-old homes may have aesthetic benefits, but in the long run it can have its drawbacks.

Homes built prior to 1978 generally were modeled with a specific type of paint that, before regulations banned it from the market, contained hazardous levels of lead, especially harmful to children and the contractors remodeling these homes.

Community Services Planner Sue Guio said the city of DeKalb, in an effort to safeguard everyone from potential risks incurred when exposed to such toxins, is holding a one-day training for Lead-Safe Workers, a project funded through the Community Development Block Grant, and is open to contractors.

The training will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. today at the DeKalb Municipal Building, 200 S. Fourth St., inside the basement classroom. A company from the Rockford Public Health & Safety will facilitate the training.

The paint-comprised lead had two specific benefits. It could accelerate the time paint would dry on walls, and it was useful when applied to floors or other furniture as a type of wood finishing mechanism.

Guio said a hazard includes children putting the paint in their mouths. Whether gnawing on a windowsill or playing with toy cars on the floor and then chewing on those same cars contaminated with minute particles, Guio said children have a greater potential risk of ingesting the lead-based toxins.

Contractors as well, when remodeling homes, are exposed to the lead-based paints. It doesn’t pose an immediate threat but could cause long-term problems. The constant handling of paint chips and other residue could altogether expose contractors to toxins more frequently than the people who live inside the homes.

Guio also said contractors in the near future who bid on City of DeKalb Private Property Housing Rehabilitation projects would have to receive this training in order to work at these houses where the lead may exist.

A straightforward method the contractors would learn is the technique of wet sanding that would be applied to the areas where the lead-based residue is prevalent and, therefore, suppress any airborne particles from escaping.

Guio said another technique simply is to tape off, or completely encase the entire work area with plastic walls, to allow the toxins to spread throughout the rest of the remodeled homes.

Larry Luxton, owner of Larry’s Painting Services Limited, said he’s considering whether or not he’d attend the workshop. He said his company uses a safer method in remodeling homes.

“Most of the time, we tear the old trim and rip out all the wood,” Luxton said. “Or, we seal it in with sealant, and then paint over it.”