I would not mess with this myself. Lead paint was not prohibited until 1978, and there is a very good chance you have it in your house. At the very least, you can get a lead paint test kit at Home Depot and test some of the peeled areas yourself. If you do indeed have lead, then a licensed (i.e. reputable) painter will be required to test all the potential work areas according to EPA guidelines prior to working in your home.

If you have lead paint, they will have to strip or sand, and most importantly, CONTAIN all the lead dust created during this process. The workers will have to seal off all work areas while this work is being done and you will be prohibited from entry to those areas while this is happening. The workers will all be required to wear Tyvek suits, and have their gloves and booties taped to prevent any lead dust from getting on their clothing and being subsequently transferred to their vehicles, furniture, kids tec.

Once all the lead dust is contained and removed, and the actual painting starts you could theoretically regain entry to the work areas. But I would not recommend it. It would be good to stay somewhere else for the couple of days while this is going on.

Here is a link to the booklet that the EPA requires us to provide to all of our clients prior to any disturbance of lead paint.

http://www.epa.gov/lead/pubs/renovaterightbrochure.pdf

Having said all this, there is NO requirement for an individual homeowner to comply with these rules when working on his/her OWN dwelling. However, once you understand the risks of lead dust inhalation, why would you want to?

The penalty for a contractor not employing lproper ead paint containment practices is $32,500 per incident/per day. While enforcement has been minimal, the contractors they do cite are being held to the fullest extent of the law.

It is important to note that these rules apply to lead dust containment and not to lead abatement procedures which is an entirely different scenario. The goal for the average homeowner is to mitigate and contain the dust, though lead paint is permitted to remain on the walls underneath the new paint. These rules only come into play when "lead paint is disturbed" - that is sanded, scraped, or otherwise turned into fine particles that could be handled or inhaled.

So if you end up with "Joe Handyman" to scrape and paint your house, and he does not follow these practices, a) he is liable for the $32,500/day fine, and runs the risk of bringing home clothing full of lead dust, that gets distributed all over his own house when he comes home and sits down for a beer. At that point it's all over his car, and even if he takes a shower and changes clothes he's already scattered the dust around his house for his own kids and pets to inhale or even ingest.

Yes it's extra work to do it right, and extra money, but it's the right thing to do for you, your family, and even your neighbors.