‘It’s important to stop work to make sure the material remains as undisturbed as possible. ‘While asbestos can be dangerous, the best thing to do is to deal with it as quickly and safely as possible to reduce risk. ‘The first thing to do is not to panic,’ says Simon Walter. It’s possible that you might start home improvement work and then come across what you suspect is asbestos. What should you do if you find asbestos when remodeling? Keep everyone away from the area until the pro has visited. If you suspect a material in your home is made from asbestos and it’s deteriorating or damaged, it’s also important to call in a trained and accredited professional straight away. If you do take your own sample, always wear an N95 respirator and eye protection. ‘The inspection should be done by a professional,’ says Tomas Satas, founder and CEO at Windy City HomeBuyer.Īlthough there are home test kits available, we recommend this approach even before tasks such as removal of a popcorn ceiling. ‘The asbestos fibers will not only be in the air for you to breathe during your work but can also get on your clothes where you could inhale them later.’īefore you begin, check for asbestos. ‘If you are doing a renovation or doing remodeling to an older home, you should use caution as you are purposefully disturbing the material,’ says process safety engineer Kevin Bazazzadeh, owner of Brilliant Day Homes. ‘Asbestos rarely poses a threat when it is enclosed and hidden,’ says Hailee Claycomb.ĭo be aware of it when you are about to embark on a project. If you live in an older home, don’t panic. What should you do if you suspect there’s asbestos in your home? Flood and fire or a natural disaster could also cause exposure. The bottom line? If asbestos is present in your home, renovation projects along with maintenance tasks could expose you to it, as could its deterioration or if damage occurs. Other places you might encounter it are on the roof, in the attic, in crawl spaces, via hot water pipe insulation, walls, and in old floor tile. Popcorn ceiling was very popular from the mid 20th century to its end, so if you decide to remove popcorn ceiling, there is the potential to be exposed to asbestos. Interior decor: popcorn ceilings and other textured ceilings, ceiling tile, textured paint, joint compoundįlooring: tile, around woodburning stovesĮlectrical equipment: fuse boxes, outlets, wiring insulation, recessed lightingīoilers and heating: duct coverings and linings, gaskets, seals, around pipes, furnaces, boiler insulation These are the places where it could be present. Where could asbestos be present in a home?Īs asbestos varies in its appearance, what’s therefore important is to know in which products and areas of a home it might occur. Other types of asbestos include amosite (brown asbestos), tremolite, actinolite, and anthophyllite. ‘It can also be found in old cement and tiles.’ ‘As a result, it may be found surrounding pipes or even as a component in spray-on coatings,’ says Simon. ‘It can also be present in rubber, plastics and some textiles.’Ĭrocidolite, or blue asbestos, meanwhile was widely used for insulation. ‘It’s often found in places where heat protection may be a factor including roofing, insulation, cement, asphalt and old boilers,’ says Simon Walter, director and lead consultant at Rhino Safety. ‘Patches of asbestos can be white, blue, or brown with either curly, soft fibers or hard, needle-like fibers.’Ĭhrysotile, or white asbestos, is the most common type. ‘Asbestos is made up of thousands of microscopic fibers undetectable by the naked eye,’ she adds. ‘It varies in size, shape, color, and appearance,’ explains Hailee Claycomb of, which provides information on mesothelioma and spreads awareness on the dangers of asbestos exposure. Moreover, there are actually different types of asbestos, and they don’t look the same as one another. Unfortunately, it’s very difficult to identify asbestos just by looking and samples need to be sent to a lab to be tested. It’s breathing in air that contains asbestos fibers or swallowing them by consuming food or liquids that have become contaminated that can cause health problems, so it’s important to be aware of the signs it’s in your home to prevent exposure.
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