Asbestos Removal – Safety Comes First
Because of the universal usage of asbestos by the building industry throughout much of the twentieth century, the risk of asbestos exposure continues to be a significant threat even decades later. For this reason, asbestos removal, also called asbestos abatement, is just as important today as it was thirty years ago. It’s also imperative to get an asbestos lawyer if you’ve been exposed. Asbestos lawyers help victims get compensation to pay for expensive medical treatment and to secure the future of their families. Whenever damage to asbestos-containing products occur, through normal decay of existing building materials, building renovations, or other causes, the danger of exposure to asbestos becomes a real possibility. Asbestos is not a danger until its microscopic fibers become airborne, but once an asbestos-containing product has released asbestos fibers into the environment, they can be breathed into the lungs, bringing about many serious health issues. Learning to recognize asbestos symptoms and how to avoid exposure are two important items.
What is asbestos and why was it such a popular component in thousands of industrial and building products? The inherent structure of the fibrous mineral asbestos gives it a great number of remarkable qualities including heat resistance, exceptional strength, insolubility, and many others. Due to these beneficial qualities, asbestos became a popular ingredient in all types of products and applications. However, because it is odorless and invisible to the naked eye, it can be very dangerous. This is why it’s important to perform asbestos testing whenever it is suspected that it may be present. When an asbestos test verifies the existence of asbestos, the potentially hazardous materials are normally sealed or removed. Asbestos removal is not always necessary, and can become expensive in some cases, but asbestos removal is the only way to eliminate the threat of asbestos exposure permanently.
There are two kinds of asbestos – friable asbestos and non-friable asbestos. Friable means that the asbestos-containing product can easily be crumbled by squeezing it in the hand or between the fingers. If an asbestos product is friable, it can easily release hazardous fibers into the air, leading to various types of asbestos cancer such as mesothelioma, asbestos lung cancer, asbestosis, and many other serious and potentially deadly diseases. Friable materials can sometimes be sealed or encapsulated to prevent the release of asbestos particles, but it is usually best to perform complete asbestos removal.
Whenever there are possible asbestos-containing products or materials present in your home, such as asbestos siding, asbestos tile such as asbestos ceiling tiles or floor tiles, or asbestos insulation, it is important to first proceed with asbestos testing to determine its existence or absence. If no asbestos is found, any remodeling or renovation projects can then be started. But, if asbestos is discovered, the next step can be one of three possibilities. First, you can do nothing. If the product that contains the potentially hazardous mineral is in good shape, and poses absolutely no risk of releasing asbestos fibers into the environment, it can be left alone. As long as it continues to remain undisturbed it will pose no threat.
If the asbestos-containing product is not in good shape, and is likely to release fibers into the air at some point in time, it will either need to be removed or encapsulated. Encapsulation occurs by spraying a liquid sealant onto the material, which prevents the microscopic fibers from becoming airborne. The purpose of the sealant is to contain asbestos inside the material. However, if you are remodeling your home and want to replace your flooring, ceiling tiles, or other asbestos-containing materials, it then becomes necessary to carry out complete asbestos removal.
Asbestos removal is normally performed by a professional asbestos abatement contractor, but is sometimes performed by individual homeowners to avoid the high cost of professional asbestos removal. However, asbestos removal is a dirty and dangerous job, and therefore strict safety precautions must always be used during a removal project. It should also be noted that in some cases it can actually be more expensive to remove asbestos on your own than by hiring a professional asbestos abatement company to carry out the work. So it’s prudent to get estimates from more than one asbestos removal company to see what your lowest possible price will be. Then, you’ll need to price out the tools, safety gear, disposable apparel, and other items that are necessary to carry out the removal job yourself, to be able to compare the price of doing it yourself versus hiring a contractor.
If you choose to perform asbestos removal by yourself, you must follow all safety rules and guidelines as laid out through state and federal regulations. Since asbestos is not dangerous until it becomes airborne, it is important to prevent the creation of asbestos dust during the removal job. This means you’ll need to wet strip the materials that are to be removed. Wet stripping is the process of keeping the materials wet during the entire removal job. Spraying the asbestos-containing materials with a solution of water and liquid detergent will keep the tiny fibers from becoming airborne. The detergent allows the liquid to penetrate the materials better than just plain water.
The asbestos removal procedure involves identifying potential asbestos products and then testing those products to verify or rule out the presence of asbestos. Whenever you have determined that asbestos is present in a specific product or material, you will have the option to leave it alone, encapsulate it, or remove it. If you decide to proceed with asbestos abatement you can either do the job yourself or hire a professional asbestos abatement company.
The decision to use or not use a professional contractor is usually based on two things – the price and the difficulty of the job. Most homeowners will choose to go with a professional asbestos removal contractor instead of doing the job on their own no matter what the cost difference. However, if the price of hiring a professional is going to cost a great deal more, some people will choose to save the money and do the job without professional help. On the other hand, if it’s a huge and dirty job, it may be beyond the scope of a do-it-yourself job. Before rushing in to tackle the asbestos removal job on your own, there are many things that must be taken into account. No matter how much the asbestos removal cost will be, most people will be better off hiring an experienced contractor to perform the removal. But if you decide to take it upon yourself to perform the work, be sure to get some asbestos training, read all pertinent literature involving asbestos removal, and follow all safety rules. Remember, safety comes first.