Can asbestos be 100% removed from a house where it has been tested to be a high Asbestos explosure area?
Posted on November 7th, 2009 by admin
Asbestos
I was in the middle of purchasing a house and the house inspector found there is a ‘broken transite vent pipe’ located in the attic. It looks like there were some contractors who did Air Conditioning installation work in the attic a while back and they somehow broke the transite vent pipe without knowing it’s a hazard of friable asbestos. The broken transite pipe was left without any proper wrapping or coating as of today.
I was in the middle of purchasing a house and the house inspector found there is a ‘broken transite vent pipe’ located in the attic. It looks like there were some contractors who did Air Conditioning installation work in the attic a while back and they somehow broke the transite vent pipe without knowing it’s a hazard of friable asbestos. The broken transite pipe was left without any proper wrapping or coating as of today.
As per suggested by the inspector, I asked asbestos consultant to collect samples and to run an asbestos testing. The test result revealed that the transite pipe is a ACM (Asbestos Containing Material), containing 22% asbestos.
My question here is:
If I hire a fully licensed asbestos abatement contractor to do the removal/clean-up, after they do the asbestos removal/cleaning job, can asbestos be 100% removed? Will there still be some airborne asbestos fibers and/or particles in the house? Is it safe to proceed to buy this house?
Dolphin Hosting
Filed under: Maintenance & Repairs
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You’ve already gotten good answers to your questions on this subject.
We are exposed to asbestos particles everyday in urban & industrial environments. Older truck, automotive & train brakes have asbestos in them & release fibers every time they are applied.
If you are so paranoid about the removal of this little bit of asbestos, walk away from the deal or have it wrapped and sealed rather than removed.
If you don’t trust a company to do what it claims it will do, don’t hire them, but without removing all insulation & other loose materials from the attic, you probably will not attain 100% removal, and even then, there might be some errant particles that could escape removal & be found later, however, I am sure that any remaining amount would be so minute that the ppm would be almost nil.
Good luck…
The seller has to bring the house up to code. If you do it, or have it done, the seller should pick up the cost or have it escrowed.
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I saw all your other questions (the same question) and you got some good answers, but I think WC is right.
If you are so scared about this asbestos thing, don’t buy the house.