Asbestos Removal/Safety
Correction: I mis-spelled the name of the asbestos removal company above. It’s JME Environmental Corp in Elmhurst NY. Amado Vera: Email: Kyronk@hotmail.com. Another phone number: 347-776-9650
lenn321
in About Brooklyn 11 years and 2 months ago
14
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14 replies
yosenblum | 11 years and 7 months ago
I have a couple of questions. We’ve lived in our Brooklyn brownstone for about 3 years. We’re pretty sure that we have a lot of asbestos in the unfinished basement covering pipes and we’re having a baby in two months. Does anyone know a good asbestos removal service? Another question we have is this: we know that there’s lead paint down there and a lot of dust and whatnot. Our contractor is telling us we should have the basement finished–put tiles on the floor, put up drywall over the painted brick. He says that we need to fix it up down there because every time we go down to use the laundry, we’re kicking up all sorts of dust that could be dangerous to the baby’s lungs. We’d love to fix up the basement, but we’re tight on cash right now. Any thoughts on this? Thank you!
Townie | 11 years and 7 months ago
The asbestos covering is only a problem if it has been damaged. If you plan on using the cellar as a rec space than removal might be prudent. A finished cellar is definitely a major plus. Only make sure your water/moisture problems are abated before you go and sheetrock everything. Otherwise you will have to worry about mold.
mousta | 11 years and 7 months ago
I’ve used Patrick from Leinster Asbestos removal. He did a good job. Don’t have his number on me but if you search here you’ll find it. But if it’s undisturbed and not cracked it’s fine as is. I second townie’s moisture comment. You’ll spend a lot more money if you don’t fix any of those problems before finishing the space. As for the lead paint, where is it? You might be able to encapsulate it fairly cheaply. I finished my cellar and it was a pretty pricey and messy endeavor. We had to leave the house for stretches during demo and some of the construction. If you don’t want to finish it the get a good hepa vacuum and vacuum a lot.
dorkofwindsor | 11 years and 7 months ago
TO me, the lead is a much much much larger issue and cognitive development is the biggest issue, not lungs. Also, please do talk to your OB/GYN about that lead paint in the basement and if it is an issue. Hopefully she is not going down there and nothing gets disturbed down there. Remember the baby is in critical development stage and any lead in your wife’s blood is not good good. Having said that, i don’t want to scare you but pregnant women are at-risk for lead. http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/tips/pregnant.htm To me a little asbestos sitting undisturbed by itself, or even covered up with walls/ ceiling isn’t a huge thing. People who *install* or work with asbestos obviously a whole different situation. Don’t lose sleep over this one. i would do the bottom row of basement finishing with wonder board, but that’s just me. anything backed with paper gets mold, event the (laughable) green board or other colored boards. Overall, personally i would encapsulate the basement (walls, ceiling) because remediation is a huge job and a pregnant woman or newborn baby probably shouldn’t live there while ongoing. This isn’t some old floor tile with asbestos in it, this stuff gets airborne. Upon completion the air HEPA purified and all walls, ceiling and floors wiped down. Your concern is timely and important at a critical time of fetal development, so do stay on top of this (and stay out of the basement in the meantime).
curiositykilledthecat | 11 years and 7 months ago
When you say it is lead paint, how do you know? Also, it’s not usually good practice to take medical advice from your contractor.
cate | 11 years and 7 months ago
I would move the laundry before I would go messing around with the basement. Leave it alone and don’t let the kid in there. As for your pregnant wife, shouldn’t be too much of an issue as long as she’s not eating/ingesting/handling the lead dust. If you start renovation now, you run the risk of creating a problem where there isn’t one. Please read the government literature online about safe lead handling, removal and encapsulation before you go doing anything. BTW our house is a construction site and our child just had his one year lead test and he is completely lead free. A miracle.
brokelin | 11 years and 7 months ago
Asbestos covering the pipes in not a safety issue unless it is coming apart into small pieces (friable). If it is in good condition and intact, it cannot get into your lungs. Even if it has been bumped and has some gashes in it, as ours had, containment (wrapping it with various materials that work for this purpose) is a completely viable way of addressing it, short of removal, is cheap, and can legally be done by the homeowners themselves. While it can be nice to just have it all removed, that is expensive. If it is in good condition, or could use some wrapping or taping up in a few places, you can do this and put off the removal job off until later (or never) if you want. If you decide to do it now, they can do it in just a few days, and those who do it legally have the air independently checked immediately afterwards to be sure it is free of particles. So it is safe to do it now…just all of you stay out of the way while it is being removed. As to lead paint, lead paint is also no threat if it is not chipping off the walls…you just paint over it with new paint, and if it isn’t chipping off, or your child is not chewing on the wall, it is safe. The exception to this is in areas like doors and windows and their frames, where the movement to open and close can wear off the outer new paint layers and expose the lead paint areas underneath, so the lead can then become airborne. I would definitely have lead paint removed from those door and window opening surfaces that get wear from use. I would never take it off a wall….just paint over it and keep the paint in good condition. The basement dust is another issue…as you don’t know what is in it. If the old paint has chipped, it could have dust in it. If the asbestos is friable, it could have asbestos particles in it. If the asbestos and paint is in good condition, it just might be dust…have someone clean it up well. If you are afraid from the poor condition of the asbestos (or if it is obvious that other pipes were once asbestos-wrapped and are no longer, likely because someone tore off the asbestos that was falling apart), having the asbestos removal job done would not only take care of removing the asbestos issue for good, but it would also remove all the potentially-asbestos carrying dust from your basement (and potentially lead-carrying dust if old paint has ever fallen off the walls.) If you can afford the asbestos removal with its through dust cleaning of your basement and independent air checking afterwards, and then just repaint with new paint after, having old paint safely removed from door and window opening surfaces where they rub against the frame first, if you go have any such surfaces, you’d be fine. (Replacing the doors and windows works as well). If not, you might go the route of containing the asbestos where it is in danger of coming apart, and painting over the lead paint. Then the only areas to address are any window and door openings painted in old paint, and the existing dust. Of course, if your asbestos is coming apart, and is dangerous, then have it removed now. We (my small coop) taped the few gashes in our asbestos (I would have rather had it all removed) and swept up the basement dust. Immediately afterwards, I felt that sweeping was really stupid, as the slightly damaged asbestos, and areas of pipe where it was clearly now gone, highly suggested that there was asbestos in the dust (I hadn’t even thought about lead paint dust yet). If I ever get an asbestos-related lung disease (they don’t show up for years), I would say that it was from that foolish exposure, except that it could also be from all the asbestos I was exposed to working in lower manhattan after 9/11 not long after sweeping the basement.) So I don’t recommend sweeping the basement yourself. An asbestos removal company should clean it all out (make sure it is clear you expect them to do that) if you have it removed. If you don’t have it removed, cleaning the dust out can be a problem because of the potential of breathing asbestos and lead while having it cleaned up. If your asbestos is in good condition, or can be contained, and you don’t go for removal now, I would check to see if there is a service that will safely clean up the dust, using respirators/masks and possibly have the people who check the air after asbestos removal check your air after for asbestos and lead to make sure it is safe. I don’t know if there are such services, or if they are required to do as much (and cost almost as much) as a full out asbestos removal process…I would find out, though.
brokelin | 11 years and 7 months ago
Oh, and it is isn’t obvious from the above, putting tile on your cement floor, and covering painted brick walls with drywall, are completely cosmetic changes, and have nothing to do with asbestos and lead safety. Focus on containing or removing the asbestos, containing the lead paint with new paint, and removing any lead risk from door and window openings that rub, and removing the existing dust. These will make your basement safe, and most of it needs to be done before tiling and drywalling (with the exception for painting the wall possibly, but painting a brick wall is a lot cheaper than drywalling.) Worry about safety now…and you can do decorating with tile and drywall sometime down the line if you want.
nintzk86 | 11 years and 7 months ago
Basements collect dust. This does not mean that because you have lead paint on your walls and asbestos on your pipes that the dust contains either lead or asbestos. These materials don’t just become dust for no reason. As brokelin said, it is really the current condition of both the paint and the asbestos which is the determining factor here. Lead paint has been banned in the US for over 30 years so you likely have many layers of latex paint over the lead paint. As long as you are not sanding it off, I would not worry about it. Even if areas are chipping away I would just paint over it and contain it. Asbestos on your pipes is equally safe if it is not crumbling off. I would also add that asbestos is a carcinogen. Someone please correct me if I am wrong, but I believe that it is only continued exposure to it that is really dangerous (like smoking). It was someone’s job to wrap those pipes in asbestos. He likely did this many times over many years. This person is the one who would be at risk of all the lung diseases associated with asbestos. I don’t believe, even if there was some small amount of asbestos dust in your basement that by sweeping it up you will be at substantial risk. There is an entire city in Russia that has an open asbestos mine: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/14/business/global/city-in-russia-unable-to-kick-asbestos-habit.html?_r=0 I think your contractor is just looking for work.
dorkofwindsor | 11 years and 7 months ago
brokelin: from the nyc.gov website on lead abatement your opinion is contradicted: “One way of reducing exposure to lead paint is to cover the surface with a new surface — by putting up drywall or by covering windowsills with vinyl or aluminum, for example. This doesn’t require the removal of the lead paint, so this is often the easiest solution. But if the new surface is ever removed or damaged, the lead problem returns. Materials used to enclose lead-painted surfaces should be durable and fire resistant, such as gypsum board, aluminum, vinyl, plywood paneling, laminates, acrylic sheets, plexiglas, fiberglass, or tile.” so drywall is currently viewed as an appropriate encapsulate method. https://www.health.ny.gov/publications/2502/
ronniekeeling | 11 years and 5 months ago
Whole asbestos covering the pipes in the basement need to be removed on immediate effect as asbestos intake is not only harmful for babies but also found to cause severe respiratory problems to elderly people also. Asbestos assessment, management and abatement procedures done by a professional organization http://www.dstgroup.com/services/building-environment/asbestos/ who can handle asbestos abatement in a professional manner can help you with asbestos removal and disposal.
anonCH | 11 years and 4 months ago
We used Patrick – recommended above, and he came in an did an excellent job and less expensive than any other contractor I spoke with.
cheryladom | 11 years and 3 months ago
I have talked to a person on [http://www.asbestosplus.com.au/](http://www.asbestosplus.com.au/ “http://www.asbestosplus.com.au/“) and the services were great. I never checked other companies and definitely there is not need o f it.
lenn321 | 11 years and 2 months ago
I just had asbestos removed from our Manhattan coop brownstone basement — a legal necessity before putting in a new gas boiler. I was extremely impressed with Amado Vera, of JWE Environmental. Amado Vera is NYS Certified Project Designer Tel:(917) 868-8980\. He came quickly to look at the site to give an estimate, which came in about 25% lower than the other bid I received. The process of asbestos removal is incredibly bureaucratic, made more complex by city regulation than it needs to be, with all kinds of steps you have to take (setting up tents for laborer showers, disposing of the asbestos and the waste water, plus filling out a ton of forms and getting them stamped by the city, etc. etc) Amado Vera proved 100% reliable and thorough on both technical grounds and in handling the layers of paperwork, which are crucial. In addition, he was punctual, responsive to emails, courteous and a pleasure to work with.