Asbestos

[Alexander Galkin]

I live in 50+ year old house. My walls insulation is black one. I don't know what it is it does not look like fiberglass. The insulation is very loose and torn. I am currently installing new windows enlarging the openings. I thought about ripping off old sheetrock on outer walls, adding R-13 faced fiberglass insulation and then putting new sheetrock. I am worried about asbestos in old insulation and sheetrock. How can I figure out if they contain asbestos and may be dangerous to be disturbed? What else besides vinyl tile may contain asbestos in old house?

[Alexander Galkin]

I live in 50+ year old house. My walls insulation is black one. I don't know what it is it does not look like fiberglass. The insulation is very loose and torn. I am currently installing new windows enlarging the openings. I thought about ripping off old sheetrock on outer walls, adding R-13 faced fiberglass insulation and then putting new sheetrock. I am worried about asbestos in old insulation and sheetrock. How can I figure out if they contain asbestos and may be dangerous to be disturbed? What else besides vinyl tile may contain asbestos in old house?

[Colbyt]

Probably mineral wool. You can have a small sample tested at a lab.

Items that might: old floor tile or linoleum. old drywall mud. furnace or boiler insulation. not a complete list by any means.

Colbyt

[Sasha]

I live in 50+ year old house. My walls insulation is black one. I don't know what it is it does not look like fiberglass. The insulation is very loose and torn. I am currently installing new windows enlarging the openings. I thought about ripping off old sheetrock on outer walls, adding R-13 faced fiberglass insulation and then putting new sheetrock. I am worried about asbestos in old insulation and sheetrock. How can I figure out if they contain asbestos and may be dangerous to be disturbed? What else besides vinyl tile may contain asbestos in old house?

[JerryMouse]

1. If you get it tested and it IS asbestos, be prepared for a mandatory remediation from the authorities. They may want to rip out all the walls, etc. Many tens of thousands of dollars.
2. There has NEVER been a case of any adverse effects from ANY commercial asbestos product. This includes people relining brakes who've breathed asbestos dust for decades.
3. The uproar over asbestos is junk science run amok.

[Joe Bobst]

Furnace insultion, siding shingles, sometimes water pipes and drainage. Transite asbestos-cement pipes were usually larger sizes IIRC. HTH

Joe

[Edwin Pawlowski]

[Colbyt]

I am not taking sides on this issue. I just want to point out the absurdity of your statements.

If they were alive they would be over 100 years of age.

I hope I am dead when I am 150 years old!

Check your facts before you open your mouth. Make sure they are relative and timely.

Colbyt

[Johnson]

I have to agree, same thing with indoor toilets. Toilets maintain so many diseases, look how many people have died since indoor plumbing has become the norm. Even Sir John Harrington who invented the flushing toilet in 1596 is dead. Sad but true.

[George E. Cawthon]

The walls are probably insulated with rock wool, if so you have no problem. If you want to find test materials for asbestos, contact your local (state) environmental quality department (or equivalent) for procedures. Sheetrock normally doesn't have asbestos. Besides some types of tile, and wall and ceiling insulation, you can find asbestos in the popcorn type ceilings and the wrap on furnace pipes and distribution system.

[George E. Cawthon]

Har. Har. Everyone that drank water during the Civil war has since died? Much controversy over whether it was the water or the war that wiped them out.

[John Gilmer]

Unfortunately for the stockholders in USG (US Gypsum) SOMETIMES sheetrock DID contain some asbestos and the joint compound (which was supposed to be strong when applied in thin layers) often contained asbestos.

That said, if you do anything that might create dust, you might want to wear a HEPA filter respirator when you take the stuff off. And you might consider using one of those vacs with a HEPA "final filter" when you clean up.

There is asbestos in the environment. Sometimes the crushed rock used for road construction has asbestos. In past years, some commercial "potting soil" mixtures contained dangerous amounts of asbestos.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Wow Colby, thanks for pointing that out. I had no idea that people would be dead 150 years later. I bet some people thought I was being funny, but your keen sense of history proved that I was plain wrong in making such statements.

Another fast fact for you to consider. The Revolutionary War was the worst in the history of the world. Everyone that fought in the ware and their families and innocent bystanders were slowly wiped out after a time. They also are DEAD now. Must have been weapons of mass destruction or sumthin. Wow, whouda thunk it?

[spamfree]

You get a 9.6 on the humor scale.....

ROTFL

[spamfree]

That black stuff is most likely asphalt coated paper with a fiber material inside, which I believe is made from wood and paper. I just demolished a building that was full of the stuff. I must admit I like that stuff much better than fiberglass when demolishing a building on a hot and humid summer day. I cant stand handling fiberglass when I am sweaty.

Personally, I'd cut your hole and not worry about it. As for the sheetrock, it is gypsum, not asbestos.

[spamfree]

Look at Ronald Reagan, who just died. He used a toilet too, and it made him senile, then killed him. What is really amazing is that he was once a president, and they are supposed to live forever since they have so much power. It's the damn toilets that did him in.....

[spamfree]

Does anyone on here know what asbestos comes from? Is it man made, or some sort of mineral, or what?

[Edwin Pawlowski]

It is a mineral and is mined. I've read that we are exposed to it most every day from many natural occurring sources. Yes, under the right circumstances it can cause asbestosis, but that is usually people working in processing plants. Not homeowners with shingles and tiles, etc.

- Ed [e-mail]

[John Gilmer]

In the past it was mined because it was a usuful product in and off itself. I.e.: there were Asbeston Mines. In most cases, asbestos is no longer used as insulation, or a binder, or as a filler. Very little is still being deliberately mined in the US.

It's still being brought out to the surface because it is often found with ther minerals. Vermiculite is an example. Some mine operators DON'T test their mill runs for asbestos just so they can deny responsibility for any asbestos.

Crushed rock in places has asbestos.

Shingles and tiles aren't considered a problem in place. But if they are drilled, ground, whatever they can be a threat. It's like smoking cigarets: the greater the exposure the more likely you will get diseases from the product. With asbestos there are levels of exposure that practically guarantee that you will get very sick (and die) in 20 years or so.

[indago]

And so, unfortunately, is Thomas Crapper, from the Thomas Crapper & Co.