Nearly any demolition carries with it the possibility that you will run into asbestos and lead, especially in older homes. These can be extremely hazardous to health and precautions should be taken.
Lead paint is primarily found in homes built prior to 1978. The older the home, the more likely that lead paint was used. Lead paint could be on the moldings, walls, ceilings, or even the floors. A primary danger is that children will chew on wood covered with lead paint.
Lead ingestion, either by inhalation or by swallowing, can produce all sorts of symptoms, including (at high levels) convulsions, coma, and death. At low levels it can adversely affect the circulatory system, the kidneys, the central nervous system, and the brain. It can cause problems such as hyperactivity, muscle and joint pain, high blood pressure, and loss of hearing.
How Do I Know If I Have Lead Paint?
Testing for lead paint is fairly complex, although simple tests ar e available for homeowners. The best approach is to have a technician approved by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) come in and test the area of your concern (as well as the entire house). The test costs around $350.
The danger in renovation with lead paint comes when someone tries to remove it. Burning paint off wood can release lead into the air. Sanding lead paint can release lead dust into the air. (Normal vacuum cleaners cannot capture lead dustspecial filters must be used.) In short, when the lead paint is disturbed, it becomes a hazard.
Encapsulating leadthat is, painting over itis not considered an acceptable method of dealing with it. The danger is that the paint could chip off or oxidize and the lead could still get into the home environment.
Perhaps the best way to remove the lead is simply to remove whatever it is painted on. Take off the molding and the lead paint goes with it. (Be sure it's properly disposed of.) Remove the wallboard or plaster and the paint goes too.
Generally speaking, specialists (EPA-certified lead abatement technicians) are the only ones who can safely remove lead from a surface. However, anytime anyone is working around lead, that person should wear an approved respirator. Be prepared for the cost. A total home removal of lead paint can cost $10,000 or more!
Asbestos can be much more of a problem. It can be found in floor tiles, sprayed on ceilings, and as insulation material wrapped around pipes (heating ducts as well as plumbing) or lining attics and roofs.
Breathing asbestos can lead to asbestosis, a lung condition that can result in death. It has also been linked to lung cancer and other diseases.
How Do I Recognize Asbestos?
Asbestos is a white material with fibers. But it can be difficult to identify. It can be in solid form, as in vinyl asbestos tile. To be sure, you should have a suspicious area tested. You can gather a sample of the material you are concerned about and send it off to a lab for testing.
For example, you may be concerned about removing floor tiles because they contain asbestos. You can send a portion of a tile in and have it checked. But be sure you send it to an accredited lab. Each state maintains labs accredited for this purpose. A clearinghouse can be found through the EPA (Web site: www.epa.gov/asbestos/index.htm).
If the asbestos is not sealed and fibers are breaking offfor example, if you are moving floor tiles containing asbestos, or working on ceilings sprayed with asbestos (as was done in the 1970s to create an "acoustical" look)it's another matter. Anytime asbestos has been disturbed it becomes a serious health hazard.
Again, only technicians specially trained in the removal of asbestos should attempt to handle it.
Do not remove asbestos yourself. Only if you have been specially trained in its removal should you attempt to get it out of your home. Otherwise, you cou ld make the condition much worse, plus endanger your own life and those of your loved ones.
Removal typically involves sealing off the area so no air can escape to the outside, then installing fans and filters to capture the loose asbestos fibers in the air while workers in protective gear and respirators remove whatever has broken loose.
Encapsulating asbestos is often considered an acceptable means of handling it.
As a practical matter, a containment policy works well. If I suspect asbestos in floor tiles, for example, instead of removing the floor, with the inherent possibility of releasing asbestos fibers into the air and then paying to have it professionally removed, I will install a barrier (such as plastic sheathing) and lay a new floor over the old. Many times a new floor can be "floated" over an existing floor, thus effectively encapsulating it. The same applies to dealing with asbestos in other areas, such as walls and ceiling s, provided the asbestos has not been disturbed. Encapsulation of one sort or another followed by creation of a barrier to keep the area from being damaged is usually the cheapest way out. The alternativehiring a certified crew to come in and remove the asbestoscan cost more than your entire renovation project!
Don't overlook demolitionit should be calculated into every home renovation job. Don't dismiss the messit's an unavoidable part of every home renovation.
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