What is Asbestos? Where is it found? Is it present in the home I am purchasing?
Unlike mold, asbestos does not grow. Asbestos is a fiber that was commonly used in building materials. Asbestos was found to be a hazard to your health and was banned by the EPA. Asbestos can be found in older homes built prior to the EPA announcements. Manufacturers have since eliminated their use of asbestos.
When asbestos is visible, we will identify it as an “Asbestos like substance”. To call a substance asbestos, laboratory testing is required. If requested, we will take samples of the asbestos and have it tested in a laboratory.
Asbestos can be found in the form of insulation, wrapping pipes and furnace insulation materials. Examples include:
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| Tile Floors | Siding | Pipe & Heat Duct Insulation |
Asbestos information: http://www.mesothelioma.com/asbestos-exposure/jobsites/homes/
Is Asbestos testing included in the home inspection?
Asbestos is a man-made material which was used in building materials until it was determined to be hazardous to your health. The use of asbestos in building materials was banned in 1978. If your house is built after 1978, you typically should not have an asbestos concern. If your house is built before 1978, there could be asbestos.
We typically find asbestos on heating pipes, boiler pipes, in exterior siding, and in interior floor tiling. We will be looking for visual signs. A home inspection is a visual inspection only, so we can only see what is visually accessible. If we see something that looks like asbestos we will call it out to you and write it in the report as “an asbestos-like substance”.
Laboratory testing is required in order to determine if a material contains asbestos. In the event that we call out asbestos and you would like it tested, we may be able to help. We offer laboratory testing at $195 per sample. Note that we cannot take a sample if it is evasive in any way unless the seller provides permission.
Due to the limitations of a visual inspection and the laboratory testing that is required, we specifically indicate that Asbestos is Not included in this inspection.
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