I contacted Lori when my tenants in an Oakland duplex raised concerns about lead exposure in the building. My education in advanced lead testing and containment began with this conversation. When they came for the inspection, Lori and her son Michael took hundreds of readings of the building's interior and exterior, and her instrument reveals where even deeply concealed lead paint lies. Because a young child lives in the building, they took extra readings to make sure that we understood any potential risks in even greater detail. Their thoroughness identified areas to maintain and to monitor and areas that pose little risk. Though highly detailed and data-driven, their report is clear and gives our contractors a roadmap to follow as they prepare their proposals for scope of work. I am so grateful for Lori's and Michael's expertise and their straightforwardness and calm demeanors. Having this report in hand has alleviated a great deal of concern, charted a path forward, and given us a real understanding of lead safety and containment. read more

I called and spoke with Lorri. I explained that I owned a very old building in SF. I wanted to get it inspected to see if it had any lead in the paint. Lorri explained that due to the age of the building it almost certainly had lead. She said that she couldn't in good conscience take my money already knowing the result. She then gave me same contact information for lead certified contractors that could help with remediation or abatement. read more

I ended up using another testing company -- this was a big mistake. In hindsight I wish we used Lori's service instead. Instead of leaving a bad review for the other company, I'm here to support the business that I wish I had used. My experience is limited to learning about testing and taking action after testing. Lori was incredibly helpful over the phone, had upfront pricing, and gave actionable recommendations (even though we used a different service for the testing). Lead can be scary (especially if you are googling it) and I appreciate Lori's expertise navigating the process. Will be recommending Lori to friends & family! read more

I just want to thank Jim for being a generous and honest person! I called asking what options they have for testing a few spots in our house, as I was about to doing some sanding/painting. He said it wasn't worth them coming over to test (they charge $250 for a visit) and said if I could bring 1" square pieces of paint, he would test it at their office. Jim and I coordinated by phone on a time for me to come to this office. he brought his detection gun out to the parking lot and tested the paint pieces I'd scraped from our ceiling, all of which came out negative. I was very grateful for Jim's time. He never asked me for anything in return and was super responsive and nice about the whole thing! read more

My husband and I recently bought a century home with a few spots of chipping and rubbing paint. I'm somewhat neurotic (to put it lightly) and after browsing the internet and discovering the joys of old, lead-based paint, we decided we needed to get an inspection done for peace of mind before we moved in. We reached to a number of companies for quotes, but ELD stood out immediately for their kind, empathetic response and the thoroughness of their service. Lori told us that they were pretty booked out (since they're a small family-run business and they do all the jobs themselves) but thanks to a last-minute cancellation, we were lucky enough to get a next-day appointment. Lori and Michael were wonderful to work with. They showed up on time and walked us through their entire process, meticulously mapping out our entire home and testing multiple walls, windows, pieces of trim, baseboard, etc for each room. They were careful to test the components that looked oldest with the most layers of paint built up - so e.g. they were able to identify that the stucco on the side of our building that was original had lead-based paint underneath but the newer stucco that was added in the 2000s didn't. They ended up taking almost 300 separate readings for our house alone, and they delivered us a report just hours later. Lori & Michael also referred us to a local painter experienced with lead remediation (who also does all of his jobs himself) and we look forward to working with him to patch up the spots they'd identified. read more

We just worked with Lori and Michael for a lead inspection of our home and it was a fantastic experience! Our baby had elevated lead levels in his blood which was obviously very concerning - we went down a rabbit hole of the steps we should take and got in touch with Lori for an inspection. She was so kind, helpful, and knowledgeable. I learned a lot from working with them, and the inspection validated that our home was safe. It turns out our baby's test was a false positive after all, but we're still so glad that Lori and Michael came to test our home for additional peace of mind and additional education for us. Highly recommend this team! read more

I called Environmental Lead Detect to inspect and assess our house, given that our baby is bound to be crawling in the next couple of months. I could not have picked a better team. Lori not knew *everything* there is to know about lead detection - she also managed to successfully calm down a very nervous first time mom :) Her and her son did an incredibly thorough job, and gave us detailed overview at the end of their assessment. That same day, they provided an expertly detailed report via email of their exact findings. They were also just so kind and such a delight to speak to. Couldn't recommend them enough! read more

Thank you Lori for all your help and expert advices!! My wife and I babysit our grandson in our house. He was tested with a high level lead exposure. We were so worried and didn't know what to do. We called ELD for help, Lori responded right away. Lori first calm us down and asked us detail about our situation. She then pointed us to the right direction and gave us many suggestions. read more

Very responsive and knowledgeable. We were worried about potential lead exposure with our toddler, and Lori and her son were able to come out relatively quickly to check out our home for a very reasonable price. They were thorough and answered all of my questions. Highly recommend. read more

I have worked with Lori, Michael and Jim for about 5 years at a local Habitat for Humanity affiliate serving low income homeowners. They have completed literally hundreds of tests and clearances for us, often with clients that can be challenging, suspicious and uncooperative. This has never prevented them from doing their job serving our clients and community. They are a family owned company that takes pride in their work and go out of their way to get it done. I cannot recommend them highly enough! read more

Jim and Michael did lead paint inspection for our condo we just bought recently. It was very pleasant experience working with them both. They tested very thoroughly of every wall, panel, crown, base, even the tiles and bath tub in our home. They even tested exterior walls and the walls in the public shared areas right outside our front door. Jim gave me a lot of helpful feedback and suggestions on site and sent me the full report including all the detailed testing results in 2 hours, which is amazingly fast! As a first time homeowner in San Francisco, lead paint is one of our biggest concerns. We are glad we found them and got a full picture of our condo's lead paint condition. Highly recommend them to anyone with the same concerns! read more

I'm incredibly grateful to Michael and Lori for not only their extremely thorough work (and report, delivered within just a few hours) but also their kindness and clear passion for this important subject. Their objective is simple: to genuinely help people by testing for and educating about lead. They've been doing it for decades, long before anyone was talking about it, and I would encourage anyone concerned for the safety of their family to contact them. read more

Fantastic experience! From start to finish, Lori & Michael were top-notch: Communicative, knowledgeable and extremely kind. They were able to come over within just a few days' notice. Once here, they thoroughly examined all rooms, and took extra care with the nursery without me even having to ask. After their inspection, they walked us through the house to explain their findings and answered all our silly questions. And the full report landed that very night in our inbox. I never thought having a lead inspector in my house would end up being reassuring, but it was. Thank you so much! read more

This review is over one year overdue. Shame on me for not getting to it sooner. I called Jim after a contractor refinishing my floors severely damaged all the baseboard around the house. The paint was chipping, and peeling in many layers, and the age of the house was a major risk for lead exposure. Jim was very understanding, asked me some questions and shared what I can expect. He made time for me despite a very busy and difficult time, and he and his son Michael came over the next day to do the testing. They were extremely thorough and did a complete testing of the house inside and out. Fortunately, lead presence ended up being very limited, and Jim was able to refer me to a lead certified painter who did an excellent job to take care of the issue, all for a very fair price. Most importantly, Jim and Michael did everything possible to give me all the information and reassurance I needed, and were able to address my concerns and alleviate my fears. They were always available for questions and help, even after the testing appointment. This is an amazing and HONEST family business, please do not hesitate to call them if you have any concerns about lead. It is difficult to find true and honest professionals, and this is one of the very rare finds. I hope I will not need their help again, but if i do I know where to go in the future. Thank you , Jim and Michael (and Lori). Please keep this business going! read more

Jim was responsive, courteous, and professional. He gave me the written report for our lead inspection the same day. He is knowledgeable and helpful. I have already used him again and would definitely recommend to anyone who needs a lead inspection. read more

Jim was super professional and was able to come out in short notice! We had told Jim to meet us at 10am, but when he got there, I didn't know our inspectors can't have other folks in the house while doing the inspection. So we asked him if he could come back in a few hours and he was totally cool with it! (I felt really bad though! Sorry Jim and thank you!) After he did his inspection, we got his report within a few hours! Yay! I highly recommend Jim! read more

Worked with Jim and got quick results as promised. He addressed my concerns and come out on time. He keep me informed on the report and I was able to get it end of the next day. Fast, professional service - I would recommend working with Jim and his company for anyone who needs Lead Inspection report. read more

Very satisfied with Jim's work on inspecting our home, producing a detailed report with recommended actions, and performing a follow-up clearance inspection. Jim was very responsive and provided detailed work. Jim also provided us with advice for how to abate some of the hazards that were identified, including recommending a contractor to remediate the lead issues. Very highly recommend. read more

I recently had James come out to inspect my house due to some positive home lead tests. He was thorough, professional, kind and very reassuring. He even tested a handful of of my kids toys and gave me helpful advice. I would absolutely recommend him to anyone with concerns of lead in their home. We will be sure to use him again in the future should we ever move homes! read more

Very professional and experienced. Quick service and results. Jim and his son were knowledgeable. I recommend this business for apartment or home owners. read more

James and son were very thoughtful and went above and beyond my expectations. They not only helped me understand my then living conditions but framed the context of the situation well. He also tested my plates too to give my a reference. read more

Punctual and professional; very happy to have called Jim and Michael. Support your local businesses.

Jim is came by to help us understand where we had lead paint in the house. He was very helpful and friendly. Would definitely recommend.

Jim was really helpful and generous with his time and thoughts, answering my questions thoroughly both before and after our appointment. He and his son came and conducted the inspection and gave recommendations in an efficient, clear, and reassuring manner. I was (and am) so stressed about our lead issue and it gives me a lot of peace of mind to have someone as professional, calm, and caring as Jim on the job. He's also a good communicator and very easy to work with. read more

Jim Ratti of Environmental Lead Detect is fantastic. We had a highly stressful situation at our building where a painter got old lead paint into all the units. Jim is on the City of San Francisco's list of certified lead testers, and our new (good) painter also recommended him. Thank goodness for Jim, who knows his business so well, is kind and rational, and helped put me at ease while he checked our property to make sure that the lead clean up job was up to par and everyone would be safe. He's an "old-fashioned" small business person, in that he not only does his required work thoroughly and carefully, but goes the extra mile in terms of customer service. read more