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Checking for
Asbestos in Your Home
How
to Check For Asbestos in the Home
By: Mark J. Donovan
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Asbestos was used in numerous
home building materials for years including
insulation, vinyl floor tiles, roofing
materials, house siding, drywall, and textured
ceiling paints, just to name a few. As a result
many home builders and homeowners were exposed
to the health hazards of asbestos, including
Mesothelioma, Asbestosis, and lung cancer.
Asbestos was used in building materials for a
number of reasons, but chief among them was the
fact that it is a fire retardant. |
Unfortunately, however, asbestos is a natural
mineral fiber and when it is disturbed, microscopic
thin crystal like asbestos particles are released
into the air. Once in the air, the suspended
particles can be inhaled and ingested. After
inhalation, the particles can become lodged in the
lungs. Once lodged in the lungs various forms of
lung illnesses and cancers can occur.
Checking for asbestos in your home is important,
particularly when you plan to disturb the materials
that could potentially have asbestos in them.
Fortunately today’s new home construction is
virtually free of asbestos. Older homes built
pre-1979, however, are much more likely to have
asbestos in them. Homes with asbestos in them are
not necessarily dangerous if the asbestos laced
building materials are left undisturbed or are
encapsulated in another safe building product. Also,
small exposures to asbestos particles will not
necessarily results in lung diseases. Typically
prolonged exposure to asbestos particles is what
causes the various lung problems.
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To check for asbestos in your home, it is imperative
to hire a licensed asbestos testing firm or asbestos
abatement firm. They have the skills and tools to
safely check your home for asbestos.
The most likely areas for asbestos in your home are
in the basement and on your vinyl tiled floors and
popcorn ceilings. Old insulated plumbing pipes and
furnaces in your basement were commonly insulated in
asbestos laced insulation. Similarly many older
vinyl tiled floors were constructed with asbestos. |
A properly trained asbestos tester can lift small
patches of the suspected building materials in your
home and quickly have them tested for asbestos. The
way to ultimately confirm whether or not there is
asbestos in the building material is to inspect the
samples under a microscope.
After determining what building materials in your
home have asbestos in them, you can then address how
to deal with them. Again, often you can leave the
asbestos where it is, as long as you don’t plan on
disturbing it. In some cases, such as with vinyl
asbestos laced floors, you can simply cover over
them with new tile or flooring. In other cases, such
as if you plan to remodel a home or room with
asbestos building materials in it, you may need to
first hire an asbestos abatement contractor to
safely remove the asbestos building materials.
Find a Pre-Screened Home Inspector Contractor in Your Area
Related Information
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