With the increase in popularity of DIY home repairs and upgrades, many homeowners have resorted to knocking down their walls and ceilings, as well as removing their flooring and fixing plumbing by themselves. While this may appear as a cost-effective approach to improving your home, your efforts to beautify your home may unknowingly lead you to contaminate your indoor atmosphere by releasing toxic asbestos fibers in the air that you and your family breathe.
This article will tell you how you can identify the presence of asbestos in homes along with why asbestos is harmful to you.
How to Identify Asbestos in Homes
Examine Surfaces for Breaks, Abrasions, or Water Damage
If you suspect that a part or surface in your home may be lined with asbestos, you need to check that area or surface for abrasions, breaks, or moisture regularly. If you come across slightly damaged asbestos, try to minimize the access and usage of that area and do not touch or disturb it.
Professional repair or removal will be required if the asbestos is damaged severely or if you plan to make alterations in your home that may disturb it.
Take Samples and Get Them Tested
One of the most precise and accurate ways to check whether or not asbestos is present in homes is to take samples of materials in the home that is suspected to be asbestos and have it tested by the local laboratory.
However, this method relies on the ability to first locate any suspicious materials in the first place and, therefore, is not a very effective approach for identifying asbestos installed in inconspicuous places, especially by the run-of-the-mill DIYer.
Call for a Professional Inspection
Identifying asbestos just by looking at it is not something a layperson will be able to do. The asbestos fibers can be very challenging to spot and deal with once released into your indoor air. That is why hiring a professional to inspect your home is the most effective, safest, and accurate way of determining whether or not asbestos is present in your home.
The team of professionals will not only be able to identify the presence of asbestos effectively, but they will also have the skills and tools to deal with it if found in your home.
Why Is Asbestos in Homes Dangerous?
Asbestos was initially considered a wonder material due to its widespread availability and excellent insulative properties, and as such, it was widely used in the construction of homes and industries. However, it was later discovered that over time, asbestos tended to disintegrate into small microscopic fibers that could easily become airborne and therefore could easily be inhaled by anyone in the space in question.
Once these fibers are inhaled and make their way into the person's lungs, they can lodge into the lung tissue leading to chronic diseases such as lung cancer, mesothelioma, and asbestosis due to their abrasive nature.
Need Help?
Asbestos in homes can be an immensely troubling and dangerous problem to deal with. Improper removal of asbestos from your home will jeopardize the safety of your family and anyone else within the house.
STOP Restoration of Spokane tests for asbestos before beginning any demolition necessary in the restoration of your home due to a disaster, ensuring that your home is safe for you and your family to live in during and after our work. Reach out to us by calling
(509) 818-7744and get a team of STOP professionals on their way to you right now!
