Health and Safety Tips for DIY Asbestos Inspection (and When to Call the Professionals)

Asbestos started out life as one of the world’s most popular construction materials. It was so versatile that it appeared in everything from concrete to cladding, increasing heat resistance, soundproofing, and even making materials more lightweight.

But as the world soon discovered, asbestos is an incredibly hazardous material that carries a host of long-term health concerns with it. If you suspect that you might have asbestos in your property and want to find out for yourself, we’re breaking down our essential health and safety tips for DIY asbestos inspection.

Read on as we tackle everything from the varieties of asbestos to the role of professional asbestos soil testing.

Health and Safety Tips for DIY Asbestos Inspection

Tip One: Understand the Difference Between Friable and Non-Friable Asbestos

The first thing to know about asbestos is that it comes in two different varieties: friable and non-friable.

  • Friable asbestos. This variety of asbestos disintegrates easily, as it has been bonded into a delicate material like gib, paint, or even insulation.
  • Non-friable asbestos. This is generally lower risk than its friable cousin, as it doesn’t break apart as easily. Often, we classify asbestos as non-friable when it is mixed or bonded into materials like concrete, as these materials are much more difficult to break apart than more delicate mediums like gib.

Friable asbestos is the much more dangerous of the two, requiring either careful quarantining or extraction by professionals trained in asbestos removal.

As a property owner, it’s important to know about this distinction because it might help you to parse old property documents or other information that could indicate your property has asbestos-containing materials in it.

Tip Two: Look for Materials, Not Raw Asbestos

Back when asbestos was widely used, it was generally mixed into materials to enhance said materials with fireproofing properties, so it’s very unusual to find it in its raw form. This is why asbestos removal professionals look for ACMs, or ‘asbestos-containing materials’. This is true even with soil testing, where asbestos testers will seek out signs of old materials buried in soil rather than raw deposits of old asbestos.

That said, it’s virtually impossible to identify if a material contains asbestos by sight alone. Only qualified asbestos testers wearing appropriate PPE should conduct tests that include sampling or disturbing materials that potentially contain asbestos, so the best course of action is to investigate which materials are on your property.

If you’re in an older home, there is a greater likelihood that your property might have deposits of asbestos hidden within. Rather than attempting to test or remove these materials on your own, seek out any documentation that has recorded the materials your property contains.

Tip Three: Know the Common Areas

Another thing that can help on the journey to understanding whether your property has asbestos in it or not is to know the most common areas for asbestos in a property. Back when this material was popular, it was incorporated into everything from concrete foundations to roof tiles. But there are some spots that are more common than others.

Some of the most common spots hiding asbestos-containing materials in older homes include:

  • Cement roofing and siding.
  • Insulation in homes built between 1930 and 1950.
  • Textured paints and popcorn ceilings.
  • Walls and floors around heat sources like wood-burning stoves and hot water cylinders.
  • Soil surrounding renovated areas of the home or near deteriorating materials (which is why soil testing is an important aspect of asbestos testing).

If you spot degradation in any of these materials, that’s a good indication that it’s time to call in the asbestos testing professionals.

Tip Four: Avoid Disturbing Potential Asbestos at All Costs

Finally, and most importantly, do not attempt to remove or disturb potential sources of asbestos on your own. This is a highly hazardous material with a high chance of exposure, and many of the diseases associated with asbestos exposure have no known cure. Even sampling these materials without the correct PPE and experience can be very hazardous.

That said, if you suspect that there is asbestos on your property, the best course of action is to contact qualified testers to have them do a bulk test of the various materials in your home. A trained professional has the appropriate protective asbestos sampling equipment and experience to safely sample and test materials for any potential asbestos.

 It’s especially important to rely on a professional if you notice materials that potentially house asbestos are degrading or have been damaged, as this can release dangerous friable asbestos into the air.

When in doubt, get in touch with a professional, but there’s nothing wrong with doing some research and due diligence with historical property documentation beforehand!

Think you might have asbestos on your property? Get a professional asbestos testing specialist to confirm.

It’s vital to test at-risk properties for the presence of asbestos as a way to keep you and the other occupants of your property safe. Wondering if your property has asbestos in it?

Get in touch with our team to book a free consultation for soil testing, material sampling, or bulk asbestos testing.

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