Was your home or commercial building built before 1970? If so, there’s a possibility that asbestos may have been used for insulation. Was Asbestos Used During the Construction of Your Home? We can do an asbestos inspection to find out!
Asbestos is a harmful substance that was used for insulation prior to the discovery that it can cause cancer. Prolonged exposure to asbestos is possible if someone is living inside of a home that utilized asbestos in its construction. Another one of our services to consider is radon testing, which provides additional protection.
Our asbestos testing team provide an inspection that will inform you as to whether not your home utilized asbestos for the purposes of insulation. Places where we commonly find asbestos includes:
- ceilings, popcorn ceilings
- drywall
- attic and wall insulation
- roofing and shingles
- textured paint
- vinyl flooring
- hot water and steam pipes
Schedule an Asbestos Inspection Today
We offer professional and certified inspection and testing services for customers in the Colorado Springs, Pueblo, and Denver CO areas. Contact AmPro Inspections for a free estimate and to schedule your asbestos inspection by calling:
Exposure to asbestos is extremely dangerous and leads to numerous potential health and safety issues for you or anyone who spends time in your residence or building. A professional asbestos inspection will uncover materials that may contain asbestos and determine the next steps to remove or manage those materials.
What Is Asbestos?
Asbestos is a name for a group of minerals that occur naturally in rock and soil and are made of up microscopic fibers that are resistant to both heat and corrosion. Due to the strength of those heat-resistant fibers, asbestos had been used formerly in building materials. The benefits were thought to be that it contributed to insulation and worked as a fire retardant.
Where Is Asbestos Commonly Found?
The dangers of high levels of asbestos are commonly known, yet it is still found in a wide range of building materials and manufactured goods. Some of the common places asbestos can be found include:
- Attic and wall insulation that was made using vermiculite
- Roofing and siding shingles
- Hot water pipes with asbestos coating or that use tape with asbestos
- Ceiling and floor tiles
- Adhesives
- Textured pains and paint-patching compounds used to repair damage to walls or ceilings
- The walls or flooring around wood-burning stoves or fireplaces
- Oil and coal furnaces insulated with products containing asbestos
- Heat-resistant fabrics
- Certain paper products
- Cement products
- Gaskets
- Automobile clutches and brakes
- Automobile transmission parts
What Is an Asbestos Inspection?
An Asbestos inspection is an in-depth but non-invasive assessment completed by a trained inspector. It begins with a walk-through of your home where the inspector will first perform a visual inspection of your home, looking for red flags and potential places where asbestos may be present. Next, the inspector will take inventory of any materials that they suspect may contain harmful levels of asbestos and do what is called a ‘bulk sample extraction.’ This is where they extract multiple samples from all potentially harmful materials. From there, these samples are sent to a professional laboratory for analysis. Finally, the inspector will provide you the results of the analysis and recommendations for what needs to be removed or contained.
An accredited asbestos professional is highly trained to inspect your home to determine if there are asbestos-containing materials or if there are levels of asbestos in your home that need to be addressed. You should work with a trained asbestos professional if:
- You are buying a home, whether it is older or if it is new you should ensure all materials have been checked for asbestos
- You notice your current home has damaged building materials like crumbling drywall or loose insullation
- You are remodeling your home or part of your home because building materials will be disturbed which can disrupt and change asbestos levels
Why Is It Important to Do an Asbestos Inspection?
It is extremely important to do an asbestos inspection due to the fact that exposure to asbestos over time has been concretely proven to lead to a wide variety of negative health conditions. Disease symptoms caused by asbestos are often not noticeable for years. Unfortunately, this means that by the time you or a loved one may begin noticing the negative health effects, major and irreversible damage may have already been done.
While there are many serious health effects related to asbestos exposure, some of the most common include:
- lung cancer
- mesothelioma, a rare cancer that affects the lining of the lung, heart, abdomen, and chest
- asbestosis, a long-term lung disease
An inspection is important because you typically can’t tell whether a material in your home or that was used in the building of your home contains asbestos. Sometimes they are labeled, but that label may not be anywhere you would see it. For example, it may be within the walls on items like pipe covers or insulations. In conclusion, the greater and more prolonged your exposure to asbestos is, the more chance you and those around you have of developing harmful, often long-term health effects.
Let’s Get Started
Schedule your inspection & testing today: