Asbestos cleaning and removing

5 years ago

last modified: 5 years ago

Situation is a sticky one for sure. My father did renovation downstairs all on his own because he is a big money saver. He decided that it would be a great idea to completely remove all the old 12x12 floor tiles with a scraper, underneath is a black mastic that is flat and not sticky. He hasn't covered over the mastic yet. He also decided to remove all of the ceiling tiles as well. This renovation happened 4 or 5 months ago (I was never there during any of the renovation). I confronted him about the mess he could have potentially done and he smiled and said he was 60 years old anyways and he isn't really too concerned about it. However, I am concerned because I stayed there for a few weeks this last month, while visiting him and brought all my clothes and bedding over and even used his washer/dryer. My questions are these. 1. Assuming the floor tile and black mastic have asbestos would they be friable? 2. Assuming the ceiling tile had asbestos would that be friable? 3. I've been exposed by staying there several weeks. All the renovation happened in the basement and I stayed 2 stories upstairs not going anywhere near it. But still am concerned because hvac furnace, obviously. At this point, I believe my bedding is pretty much toast, and I only washed and dried a few outfits in the washer/dryer. But still my clothes were hung up inside the spare bedroom, so they could have been exposed as well. In addition, I wore those clothes in my vehicle, so would I need to replace the vehicle as well? I know it's a bit overboard, but these are actual questions that someone must think about. Perhaps over the top xD I will note that I had nothing to do with the renovation. Also, it's worth noting that he has had friends and family over (even spending the night), what would be their risk?

And finally, from what I learned. An air test in home is like 700 to 1200 bucks that I don't have. I would assume there is some sort of government testing in the area? Or does anyone know of an alternate or cheaper route? Hopefully someone with experience in the field might be able to shed some light here.

Thanks!

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Comments (4)

SJ McCarthy
5 years ago
Ok...lets work with the basics:

#1 Friable. What is friable? Friable is when something is PULVERIZED (turned to fine dust) and then thrown up into the air. The mastic is undisturbed = perfect. Undisturbed means NOT ground into a fine dust = NOT friable. The ceiling tiles were probably taken out "whole". Perhaps a few were broken. That means that 99.99999% of the products were NOT friable.

#2 Asbestos filled products. What products have them and what (normally) do not. Most asbestos based material was created BEFORE 1982 (sold until 1985-1986...something like that). That means there are LIMITS to what could be available in the house. The 12x12 tiles do not normally contain asbestos. The old mastic *MIGHT have it...but might not. It depends on when the HOUSE WAS BUILT and when the tiles were INSTALLED (which year). Ceiling tiles may or may not have asbestos (see the 1982 comment above).

#3 Risk to health. To be at risk for asbestos exposure, you have to have ASBESTOS in the space that has been pulverized and airborne. So far, the only thing (out of the three concerns listed) the ONLY thing that MIGHT cause "exposure" = the small amount of dust created when a ceiling tile broke. A small puff of material that would be created at the moment the tile was broken. That little puff is the "friable" stuff. That would be it. Everything else is stable and is NOT friable.

If you are extremely nervous (thinking about getting rid of a car because of potential asbestos cross contamination would rank as "extremely nervous"), you can send some samples to a lab to have them tested for asbestos. Each test is $75-$100 per sample. If you send a sample of the ceiling tile and of the mastic, you would be looking at $200 at most.

And then there is the TOTAL RISK when looking at a LIFETIME of exposure to FRIABLE asbestos fibre. If you think that a puff (barely visible to the naked eye when it happens) of material would create a 0.000001% "life time risk" of exposure. Imagine how much you have to be exposed to just to get to 1%.

And then imagine that it takes a lifetime risk exposure of 90% or higher will put you into the category of possible health risks. Some people, even after working for 30+ years in an Asbestos mine in Asbestos Quebec (yes...that's the name of a town), never experience any form of asbestos related health concerns.

I'm not down playing the concerns with asbestos. What I'm trying to do is put some perspective on it. Out of all the things that cause health issues in life, I would be more worried about the addictive properties of caffeine than the possible exposure to minute amounts of asbestos. But again, if you are extremely nervous, feel free to send off some samples to the lab. Pay the $100/sample and feel better about how much (or how little) you have been exposed to.
Justin Patrick thanked SJ McCarthy
Justin Patrick
Original Author
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Thank you for the reply. I actually feel so much better now. I called an asbestos abatement company and talked to a guy who has been working with asbestos for 30+ years and he told me that tiles, mastic, and a lot of the ceilings are apart of a matrix and there is little need to worry. Everything that you said is basically what he said, but before that call I talked to a fairly rude man on the phone with some restoration company (sounded a lot younger), and he basically told me that the house was in a completely unlivable condition and I needed to do testing. This is what sparked my anxiety about the whole thing because he started mentioning people in hazmat suits and started giving me huge price quotes about removal costs. All in all, I'm going to send in a sample to that awesome dude at the abatement company and he said it takes several days for testing results. I'm going to start with a sample of the ceiling first as that in my eyes would pose a bigger risk, if that comes back negative then the floor tile is next, I'm hoping with the floor tile they will also test the mastic on the tile as well. I'll be sure to let them know as well. I will post back when I get the results but thanks again, I feel so much better about the situation.
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You can cut off a chunk and send it off to a lab to test for asbestos content-- obviously, don't do that in an obvious place if you're not immediately planning on replacing it or covering it. If you can lift a baseboard and get material from the edge, then cover the missing section back over with the baseboard, that's often a good location. For the mastic, you can get it wet and scrape up some and send it off for testing. The lab will almost always have specific instructions on safe ways to collect material for testing and how much you need. Similar appearing materials are all over the place on actual asbestos content. Vinyl asbestos tiles tend to be square and have kind of a marbled look. They are often, but not always, 9x9. The vinyl asbestos tiles are generally quite low risk compared to the asbestos-backed sheet vinyl, because the asbestos fibers are bound in a matrix with the vinyl. Unless you pulverize them in removal, you're not going to get airborne fibers taking them out. If you contrast whatever your local recommendations are for VAT removal with sheet vinyl removal, they're usually pretty different-- the main thing people are concerned about with VAT is how you dispose of it. For sheet vinyl, though, they're really worried about how you take it up. Mastics can be pretty difficult to get up. For example, the black mastic was really easy to get up with Bean-E-Doo (whatever they call it now)-- anything else, though, forget it. The remnants of the Bean-E-Doo itself were challenging (lots of soap, water, scrubbing, etc.) However, though the same chemical said it works on old carpet adhesives, it didn't work at all for me. If you have things tested and the tile's asbestos and the mastic's not, the tiles are pretty easy to remove nondestructively with steam (e.g., a steam iron or a wallpaper steamer, or you can rent a big machine that heats the tiles for you). Then you can rent a big commercial scraper to get the mastic up, which is the most efficient. If the mastic does contain asbestos, either it shifts easily with heat or it doesn't, it's water soluble or oil soluble, etc. Use whatever people think is the best method for the specific type of mastic you have. Or paint over the mastic with one of the sealing compounds if the standard removal methods don't work. Since your tiles are loose, though, I'd take them out before putting any new flooring down.
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Justin Patrick
Original Author
5 years ago
Test results just came back, the abatement company had to send it to Saint Louis. Anywho, it was all negative for asbestos. Not even the mastic contained asbestos.
SJ McCarthy
5 years ago
Excellent. No more worries.

Asbestos cleaning and removing

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