How to Identify Asbestos Siding

It was standard practice to use asbestos in homes that were built back in the 19th and 20th centuries and while most people realize the risk of asbestos inside their older homes, what they may not realize is that it was also commonly used in home siding as well. It wasn't until the 1980's when the experts started to suspect that home siding could also pose a serious health risk to home owners.

If you suspect your older home may have asbestos in the siding here are some suggestions to help you identify any problems.

The deed to your home can provide valuable information on when the home was built. If your home was built before 1978 there is a good chance that asbestos was part of the original building materials used to build your home. If the outside of your home still has the original siding you will need to check for damage, if no damage is present it is recommended to leave it in place until you can contact an expert or you run the risk of asbestos exposure.

You should inspect your siding for manufacture information printing, if there is a manufacture code it is unlikely that your siding contains asbestos. It wasn't until after 1980 when manufactures started coding their siding and asbestos was already removed from the manufacturing process. However if your siding has several layers of paint you will need to have a professional take a look at it to determine if the original paint to determine if it contains asbestos.

Siding that looks like roof shingles were common before 1980, and asbestos was often used in the manufacturing. Check the back of the siding for appearances of tar paper, or the front may have a sandy textured or grainy appearance which is an indicator of asbestos.

A lot of manufactures also produced a wood grain texture to simulate cedar. These shingles were usually about 12 to 24 inches and the bottom often had a wavy pattern, although it was just the most popular there were still other patterns produced.

After you have done your own inspection and determined that there is a possibility of asbestos or if you are unsure, you should consult a professional. Manufacturers used to make products from asbestos that actually resembled asbestos-free products which can be confusing to the armature eye.

There are several reputable labs that you can send a sample of your siding to, this is the best way to determine if asbestos is present. Even if you think your siding is ok you should have a sample tested if your home was built before 1980 to ensure your family's health and well-being. Asbestos exposure is the direct cause of mesothelioma cancer.

The Top 5 Places to Check If You Think Your House Has Asbestos

After scientists discovered that asbestos fibers cause asbestosis and mesothelioma cancer, this material became heavily regulated in the United States. Homes are no longer built with materials containing asbestos fibers. However, some residential structures built before the 1970s might still contain asbestos. If you suspect that your house has asbestos, you should hire a professional to check these five main places.

1. Boiler and Hot Water Pipe Insulation. If you live in an older home, you should have your boiler and hot water pipes inspected for asbestos. Until the 1970s, many hot water and steam pipes were covered with a protective coating of asbestos. In addition, some boilers and pipes were wrapped in asbestos blankets for heat insulation and fire resistance. If you are not sure whether a particular material contains asbestos, you might ask a heating specialist or a plumber or have the hot water system inspected by a professional asbestos inspector.

2. Resilient Floor Tiles. If your house has the original vinyl, asphalt or rubber floor tiles, there might be asbestos in the tiles and in the adhesives underneath the tiles. As long as the tiles are in good condition, they will not release asbestos fibers. If you decide to remove any older tiles, make sure not to sand or scrape them, as this might release microscopic asbestos fibers into the air. It is always best to use professionals to remove any suspected asbestos from your home.

3. Textured Wall Paint and Decorative Wall Finishes. Until 1977, many brands of textured wall paint and spray finishes were made with asbestos for enhanced strength and durability. Since finding asbestos fibers in the wall paint requires a special type of microscope, you should have professionals inspect your walls to make sure they do not contain any harmful substances.

4. Older Cement Roofing, Shingles and Siding. While the roof of your home might look just fine, it might contain asbestos materials. Asbestos cement used to be a very popular material for manufacturing and installing various types of roofing. Fortunately, roofing materials do not release asbestos fibers unless disturbed by sawing, drilling or cutting. However, you should regularly inspect your roof for any loose shingles and peeling roof felt to avoid release of asbestos fibers.

5. Wood Burning Stoves. If your house has an old wood burning stove, there might be asbestos fibers in the wall and floor covering around the stove. Generally, the coverings will not release asbestos into the air as long as they remain in good condition. However, to be safe, you might want the old wood burning stove examined professionally and any asbestos removed.

Exposure to even a very small amount of asbestos can lead to illnesses such as malignant mesothelioma. A mesothelioma diagnosis can be devastating, as most patients succumb to the illness in less than one year, often leaving family members with a financial burden in addition to their grief. It is important to rely on professionals to handle asbestos removal from the home. In addition, in case of a mesothelioma diagnosis, it may be useful to consult an attorney regarding your legal options.

Asbestos dust clean

Mesothelioma is a disease characterized by scattered pulmonary fibrosis from the infiltration of asbestos dust into the lungs. Recent laws limit the usage of asbestos, but a lot of industries used it in the past. Hence, exposure occurred, and may still happen, in many jobs, comprising of manufacturing and mining of asbestos, shipbuilding, demolition of structures containing asbestos, and roofing. Further diseases connected to asbestos exposure include lung cancer, asbestosis, and asbestos pleural effusion.

The amount of exposure that leads to disease in people is up for debate. While there are numerous cases of factory or other workers that have had heavy exposure to free, friable exposure for several years developing disease, there are also cases where exposure has been as short as some months or only a few weeks. Intensity of exposure is most probable as relevant as length of time.

Dust of asbestos is a vicious thing. Due to the chemical structure of the material, the dust is like a cloud of fine glass particles. While they will not harm your skin, they do great harm to the lungs. Making matters worse, asbestos dust is so fine that it is simply raised from asbestos material like ceiling tiles and walls. Once in the air, it is all but unseen.

While you're performing a renovation project, below are a number of helpful tips to remove asbestos dust:

• It's best to make use of hand tools to minimize the release of dust. Power tools are more probable to damage asbestos surfaces. 
•  If you require to sand, make it wet sand. Dry sanding releases asbestos fibres into the air. 
•  Moisten the asbestos material before working with it to reduce the danger of dust being released. Do not make use of a high-pressure jet. 
•  Increasing some dish-washing liquid to the water you use will assist soak up asbestos particles. 
•  Do not make use of an abrasive blasting system or any other high-pressure techniques to clean asbestos roofing, siding or cladding. Always make use of a low-pressure system. 
•  Clean the area you have been working in completely. Dispose of any waste cautiously and in reference to your local laws.

The dangers of asbestos

The dangers of asbestos have been known for a very long time and even the companies that made billions off of asbestos products have long since given up defending the virtues of asbestos. Unfortunately, there were way too many years between identifying the dangers of asbestos and getting asbestos pulled off the market but finally new asbestos products have been almost universally banned.

The biggest problem with asbestos today is dealing with the past. People still suffer from mesothelioma and other respiratory problems caused by asbestos. Perhaps an even bigger problem is how to deal with the asbestos that is still out there in older buildings, concrete and insulation. For more than half of the 20th century asbestos was used just about anywhere that required insulation. It was just about everywhere out there - and still is.

Of course the public outcry against asbestos called for the immediate removal of all asbestos anywhere people were exposed to the hazard. However, this is often easier said than done. In all too many cases the biggest expense involved in renovating an older building is dealing with asbestos. Often the expense of totally removing asbestos has prevented renovation of older buildings. Demolishing or renovating old buildings used to be easy but not anymore.

For many years asbestos removal was at a stand still. Those companies that could afford to remove asbestos insulation in their buildings had already done so; often at great expense. Those companies with smaller financial resources usually just left their old buildings alone and delayed dealing with the asbestos. Finally in the 1990s governments started to approve alternate ways of dealing with asbestos in buildings.

Currently there are 3 approved ways of dealing with asbestos in older buildings. Removal is still the preferred way, but is very expensive and not entirely without dangers. Simply getting the asbestos out exposes it to people. The trick and expense in asbestos removal is keeping it out of the air and away from people. An additional problem with asbestos removal is you have to install new insulation and fireproofing, usually fiberglass, to replace the asbestos you are removing.

A second way of dealing with asbestos is called encapsulation. This involves actually building a structure around the asbestos so that it is totally contained. In some cases this is a viable option but usually it is almost as expensive as removal. Many buildings cannot handle the extra weight of the encapsulation structure.

The third way of dealing with asbestos is called encasement. With this procedure a special 2-part coating is sprayed over the asbestos totally preventing exposure to the fibers. The first coat is a primer that binds with the asbestos fibers, holds them in place and also prepares the surface for the second coat. The second coat is the sealer that does just that, totally sealing off the asbestos.

Independent testing of encasement has shown that the final surface is completely safe. There are no airborne fibers or other volatile substances coming off the surface. It is totally harmless. In the field, encasement has proven to be more than 50 percent less expensive compared to removal and can be done in half the time and with much less labor expense. The big drawback with encasement is the asbestos is still there but as long as the building isn't changed or demolished the encasement coating renders the asbestos totally harmless.

Asbestos is a fibrous mineral

Asbestos is a naturally occurring, fibrous mineral with very remarkable qualities: it can effectively resist heat, steam, and fire. These qualities make asbestos an ideal material for insulation, which were used to line roofs, ceilings, attics, and walls of both houses and buildings. The type of insulation was widely used in residential, public, and commercial buildings before the 1980's.

Despite its excellent qualities that made it an ideal ingredient for construction materials, asbestos is highly hazardous to both the health of humans and animals. Asbestos consists of several silicate minerals that can be separated into fibers and particles easily. When inhaled and ingested, these particles and fibers can cause a variety of pulmonary diseases, including asbestos poisoning (a scarring of the lung tissues caused by sharp asbestos fibers and will cause chest pains, shortness of breath, and dry coughing), mesothelioma (a cancer unique to asbestos exposure-and an extremely fatal one), and several kinds of cancer that will affect the lungs, stomach, larynx, esophagus, and even the kidneys.

Asbestos insulation is a problem that plagues a lot of homeowners and property owners. Action should be immediately taken, because the risks of the diseases mentioned above will increase when exposure is prolonged. How will you know if your insulation uses asbestos? Here are a few things to watch out for:

• It is important for you to know the exact date when the house or building you are living in is constructed. If it was built before the 1960's, there is a high chance that the insulation material lining the walls, attic, and roofs. 
• Check if the insulation used in your house or building is of the loose or batted type. These kinds of insulation material will look life fluffy, grayish clumps of fibers and they are often found between the rafters. 
• If your home has a lot of old pipes, check if they are covered with a blanket-like material in the elbow joints and valves-these are insulation materials that contain asbestos. There are also asbestos insulation materials that look like cardboard coverings-and this was especially popular in steam heating pipes manufactured in the 1910's to the 1980's.

If you suspect that the insulation materials in your home or building contain asbestos, you should treat them as though they really contain asbestos. This means avoiding contact or exposure to them, and immediately calling a professional asbestos remover to inspect them. Asbestos can only be positively identified by using polarizing light microscopy, which can be found in laboratories certified by the Environmental Protection Agency.

You should not try to remove asbestos insulation by yourself, even if you wear something over your nose to provide protection from inhaling the fibers. Licensed professionals use special masks and gloves to handle the asbestos materials, and they possess the technical knowledge to safely extract these materials from your home. They also use special equipment to isolate and seal off the infected area, and initiate decontamination once the job is done.