Checking for Asbestos
Does anyone have good advice or experience with the process of checking and treating for asbestos in the basement? To my inexpert eye, the crumbling old insulation around my basement pipes does not look good. I’d like to get an expert in to look. I have heard that you can get asbestos material sealed as…
Does anyone have good advice or experience with the process of checking and treating for asbestos in the basement? To my inexpert eye, the crumbling old insulation around my basement pipes does not look good. I’d like to get an expert in to look. I have heard that you can get asbestos material sealed as opposed to removed, and this is actually safer because it does not release particles into the air. Anyone got experiences, recommendations for an expert and/or idea for how much this can cost?
It’s true that lino is one of the more difficult substances to release asbestos fibers from, but I did see a program on the news about a woman who had it pulled up, it did contain asbestos, and it was tracked all over her home, exposing her entire family. I also know of another case where pipe lagging was allowed to deteriorate to such an extent that the dust was tracked throughout the entire house. Asbestos readings were off the wall. The whole house was sealed off by the city. The costs – personal and financial – were astronomical.
Tiny particles are exactly the problem with asbestos – they do stay in the air an extremely long time. Some experts will tell you that only a few can do damage. Others will say large amounts over prolonged periods. Other will say lung damage varies from person to person, all reacting differently to different amounts (kind of like the fetal alchohol syndrome arguments).
If you have young kids, don’t cut corners. If you are unsure of what sort of materials you have (lino, insulation), ACS can come and take a small sample (safely encapsulated)and test for you. Don’t know the cost for that. And you get all the tests results and documentation… good for resale value.
I have heard that we will be hearing bad news about many “new” insulation products, like silica, which are suspected to also be harmful to the lungs. It’s never ending. You have to find your own comfort zone. But remember, young children are at greater risk for serious damage, and that if you try and sell your home, an asbestos evaluation may be part of the process… Particles remain in the air for many years…. Encapsulation is not a long-term solution, I was told anyway. It is only if you don’t want to shell out for removal. But it’s still costly, so why bother?
ACS Environmental Services – they are the independent air quality control people. They are a must if you are hiring a contractor. Contractors don’t test the air. Only a company like ACS will let you know if they have done a safe job. 718/339-1984. They will run you between $500-$1000.
When I scraped up old linoleum floors in the rental kitchen of my brownstone, I got freaked out when my neighbor told me you have to be careful because they could contain asbestos. I had no idea. That’s all I needed to hear so I sent some samples to get tested and they came back negative. Yay! This is the place I took the samples to: http://www.emsl.com/index.cfm?nav=Lab_details&LaboratoryID=1
I also spoke to a woman in the city who deals with asbestos and she told me that even if I had sanded the linoleum tiles (providing they are made with asbestos) I still wouldn’t have broken them down enough to release asbestos into the air. It made sense to me because they are such minute particles that they are always bonded to something else. So they won’t be floating around forever. Dunno maybe she was just trying to calm my fear.
I will say it’s nothing to fool around with so I would still advise to do it by the book like the previous poster said.
ACS can give you recommendations. They will also tell you who to absolutely avoid.
Any Suggestions for an asbestos abatement contractor?
I detected deteriorating asbestos pipe lagging in my basement shortly after I moved into my house. Some was concealed under a drop ceiling (in a finished room we intended to use as a playroom). More of the stuff was exposed in the boiler room and the laundry room. Some of it had actually been cut into, and I could see the telltale corrugated cardboard interior. The exterior looks like plaster of paris.
I had several quotes to remove the stuff professionally, all of which were less than I feared. I highly recommend that you higher ACS, an independent air quality control company, that will check and see if your air has been contaminated before (this is important!), during, or after. The contractor (guys in hazmat suits) will not be able to remove the barriers until the air is deemed OK.
You will, however, have to file the job with the city, and trust me they are trying to fine you at every turn. I did everything by the book, and they still tried to get me for $10K. I haggled it down to $2500. Since the violation was really the contractors fault (he forged my name on the docs so he could give himself a weeks window to do the work – the inspector came to check on a day when nobody was here, hence the fine for not letting him in. MAKE SURE YOU SEE AND SIGN ALL PAPERWORK).
I am very happy to have paid up despite this to have the asbestos removed and to know my kids are breathing clean air. I was told by many sources, including ACS, that removal is preferable to encapsulation. ACS did recommend, however, that we leave asbestos covered pipes that were encapsulated in cement by a previous owner during the renovation of the basement as is. Only if we were doing a new messy renovation should we remove it, and then again, by a professional. We had lots of pipe lagging to be removed, and the whole thing cost about $5000. The fine was an additional $250.
Remember though, basement pipe lagging is just the one of the most obvious places to find asbestos. When you remove walls from bathroom renovation pre 1970, you will also frequently find it hidden behind walls. As was noted on a recent post, it is also in lino and mastic, not to mention plaster, patching materials, ironing board covers, toasters, and a host of other materials (800 household materials, according to one website)… I lean toward the belief that you have to have prolonged, heavy exposure to the stuff to get sick. I could only find one case of a child you was exposed and developed meselothemioma in her 30s (her father’s was plastering and sanding a playroom over the course of the summer), although I’m sure there are more. It’s bizarre, but theoretically, you can be at risk of unleashing asbestos just by hammering a nail into a wall (patching and plaster…)…
All in all, though I am not nuts or a millionare, but I would spend the money again in a heartbeat to know my home is safe for my children.