WWYD? Asbestos in drywall joint compound and texturing
pudgybaby
11 years ago
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marie_ndcal
11 years agoBilll
11 years agoRelated Discussions
Joint Compound
Comments (8)A couple of weeks ago my DW and I did a venetian plaster faux finish on our livingroom wall, using Durabond90 mixed with latex paint. The Durabond looks a bit like portland cement, but doesn't act like it. It's a bit like the drywall compound too, but is too hard to sand (according to the instructions on the side of the bag). Cost in Ontario is about $15CDN for 15kg - should be about $12US for 30lb, more or less. There was some left over, and I had some perlite handy too, so I mixed equal amounts of Durabond & perlite, added enough water to make a squishy mix (note the scientific term denoting a tufa-like consistency), and pressed it into a small yoghurt container. I then pressed a glass oil lamp bulb into the mix, and let it set overnight. The result looks like a portland/perlite/peatmoss mix, but is a bit heavier and a bit stickier - I had to cut the mold open, which I don't usually have to do when I make tufa. It was well set by morning, and hardened nicely during the next week. It occurred to me that this might give some relief to tufaneers who suffer from withdrawal symptoms during the cold weather. I know it's not real tufa (no portland cement and no peatmoss), but it might make a winter substitute. Another possible use is as a quick prototyping material - sets a lot faster than tufa. And the way I used it originally, it mixes nicely with latex paint - just dulls the colour a bit. I'll try to post some pictures later this week....See MoreSanding/Feathering on Drywall with Knockdown Texture
Comments (3)I finished yesterday, before reading your post. Although wet-sanding IS what I did at the edges. My mistake: I didn't sacrifice (i.e. mud/skim) far enough outside of the patch line. I tried to feather it about only 1-1.5" inches from the tape -- and that caused too much of a "raised border" look that became more visible once painted. The last two times I feathered it far out, it blended well, but my knockdown-from-a-bottle looked awful. So this time I was trying to limit the area I needed to apply it (i.e. not ruin any existing knockdown). However, I didn't go far enough out and caused the raised border: what do you know? My knockdown this time looked excellent inside the patched area -- just the improper feathering looked amateurish. Not easy to make it match.... Maybe the 4th repair will be perfect! And maybe someone else will find this helpful. Thanks for the reply....See MoreAsbestos in textured ceiling - always check!
Comments (5)That's a very low level of asbestos...but it is asbestos. When the lab told you that results below 1% were not a problem, they're really not talking about health risk; they're talking about the fact that the Environmental Protection Agency cutoff for regulating removals is 1%. This does not mean levels below this are safe: it just means that, from a regulatory standpoint, you have to set a cutoff so you are not regulating every removal, no matter how trivial. Having said that, it's a good thing that it was so low. I can't tell you that what you did carries no risk, but most people who end up with asbestos-related diseases are those who have had regular and continuing exposure for years (miners, insulators, sheet metal workers, fire fighters, brake mechanics, etc.) And the reality is that all of us have asbestos exposures since there are trace amounts in the air due to the fact that it was used so much in the past in things like insulation and brake linings, and those materials have left quantities of fibers in the environment. There is nothing you can do now about your personal exposure, and there is no medical test that can be performed that would show anything since disease takes 20-30 years to develop. But I doubt this single exposure has caused permanent harm. And if you smoke, this would be a good reason to consider stopping as there is an interaction between smoking and asbestos-exposure that raises risk much higher than if you were only exposed to one of those hazards. It is also a good idea to have your house air-tested and have things cleaned up if you have fiber levels that are elevated above "background" measurments in your area. I know this is probably distressing for you, but you can take comfort from the fact that many people have done the same thing or worse and with even higher levels of asbestos in their ceilings, and not even realized it...and yet there is not an epidemic of sickness among home remodelers. It's an unfortunate way to learn a lesson, but I think you'll be ok. Just make sure you research what is required for a safe removal if you are ever tempted to remove more....See Moreweight of plaster or drywall compound
Comments (7)Mindy- That sounds like a tough one. If it were me, I'd think seriously about sheetrocking the whole thing. It actually sounds like less work than repairing the hodgepodge. Without seeing the horsehair plaster and whether it's too far gone, it's hard to give advice, but plaster should stick to it...joint compound is not meant to be used to fill in holes as it will crack in large quantities. One more thing, however, and this is important: old popcorn ceilings often contained asbestos, and you should not be scraping these or vacuuming the mess (it spreads the microscopic fibres around) without first getting an inexpensive test done on a sample at a testing lab to see if whether it contains asbestos. This could be a serious health hazard....See MoreLinda
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