It doesn’t have to do with wether you live in an apt or a house. It has to do with the year that the apt or house was built. In the 50s and 60s all homes and apt building were built using asbestos. If you buy a home or apt that was built after about 197? your home shouldn’t contain any asbestos. To have it removed you MUST hire a licensed contractor who specializes in this to come in and have it all removed. This stuff is very dangerous if you breathe it in and to get it removed is a very time consuming dangerous job. Because lets say that it’s in your wall and you tear down that wall, the asbestos will be in the dust that comes when you tear the wall down, you really can’t smell or see it if it’s in the air that you are breathing for kicking it up from construction.

Asbestos was mostly used in buildings between 1940′s to 70′s……so it really depends on the age of the house as opposed to the type. Its most common known form is ‘Artex’…..

That does not mean that ALL artex include the material

Asbestos is generaly safe until is becomes damaged eg…renovation maintenance etc. Although once discovered it should be removed to avoid accidental damage. It will only take one fibre, smaller than the eye can see, to be breathed into a lung where it will sit for years (up to 30 years) before causing the human terminal illness like lung cancer

It is illegal to remove asbestos by an unlicenced person because it has to be removed under strict conditions and disposed of following strict statutory regulations

For further info contact your local authority if you are in the UK

Neither – asbestos was a comon insulator (especially for pipes) in older homes/apartments/commercial buildings. Asbestos can be either removed or encapsulated depending on what form it is and if it is shredding or breaking down, but you should have an expert come in and let you know which way to go with asbestos in your own property/home. Make sure you get at least 2 or 3 estimates, and ask for references!