Asbestos Popcorn Removal Question

Okay. I removed the popcorn acoustic ceilings in my home just 2 days ago after a friend told me how easy it was. Then last night I discover that the material probably contains asbestos so I took it into a testing center today and indeed it does. There's not much I can do now to reduce my own exposure since I'm pretty much done with the job, but what can I do to minimize my family's exposure to it?

Do I keep the spouse and kids out of the house for a couple of days? Do I need to turn on the A/C and change the filter a few times? What steps can I take? Right now I'm afraid to let anyone near the house.

Thanks.

Reply to
Ninja67
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Last night, how did you discover that it probably contained asbestos?

Reply to
JoeSpareBedroom

I would wash things down to remove the dust, you really dont want it sucked through the heating system

Reply to
m Ransley

Relax. Sweep it up, put it in a plastic bag, take it to the trash. It contains very little asbestos and it encapsulated in the paint. It is really not much of a hazard at all.

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

Keep in mind you have to be exposed to asbestos dust DAILY for 20+ years before you MIGHT contract some symptom some 20 years after that. For a one time deal, forget it and go on. It's no different than the 8700 brake jobs I did in the 70's and 80's and blew everyone of them out with compressed air. I don't worry about that for sure.

Reply to
Steve Barker

Whattya mean, blew it out? You stood where in the room, and directed the compressed air where?

Reply to
JoeSpareBedroom

I stood in front of the brake being serviced, and BLEW the air onto the old shoes and backing plate to clean the dust off. (same way I still do it for that matter)

Reply to
Steve Barker

Call the state office or a licensed contractor that deals with asbestos abatement? No, you don't want to do that, I guess. Like the rest of the respondents, I say move on. Like a ninja! Tom

Reply to
tom

That's a bit different from living in an enclosed space full of asbestos dust.

Reply to
JoeSpareBedroom

Take a deep breath. Buy a vowel. Get a clue.

Unless your house was made prior to 1970, the chances of having asbestos in it are minimal.

If you wet the popcorn to take it off (and what moron wouldn't) you negated the possibility of it floating around in the air.

Read up on asbestosis (facts, ya know) and you will learn that it is inhaled.

Realize that even according to OSHA standards, you would have to remove a lot of asbestos in a lot of houses and do it DRY and make a big dusty mess many times before you would reach even the THRESHOLD levels.

If you are still paranoid, do this:

Open the doors and windows and blow fans for a couple of days. Vacuum with a vacuum that has a HEPA filter. Wear respirators or Scott packs while doing this.

Or just burn the place. Or sell it really cheap.

How much do you want?

Call your local mental health clinic and make an appointment.

You're a troll or a paranoid person.

Steve

Reply to
Steve B

Full of dust? From what? There shouldn't be any dust left if the OP wet the popcorn first, and even if he scraped it dry (the hard way), there shouldn't be much dust left.

They're not beagles who are running around with their noses to the floor.

Steve

Reply to
Steve B

The good news is you and your family no longer have to floss.

You took a sample to a testing center. Now you will have to disclose to any prospective buyers that the house was once infested by asbestos and that it was removed by an amateur.

Reply to
HeyBub

I wouldn't worry too much. Usually when you remove it you wet it down and scrape it, the moisture keeps it together. The problems occur when it is disturbed dry and the dust is "kicked up" and inhaled.

Reply to
Eric9822

Talk to the asbestos testing place and/or seek other professional advise. A lot of people here are downplaying the hazard. Others believe differently. Who do you want to trust with your family's health? My understanding is that once asbestos gets into your lungs the body has no way to get rid of it.

Bob

Reply to
Bob F

In by m Ransley on Tue, 30 Jan 2007 18:12:57 -0600 we perused:

*+-I would wash things down to remove the dust, you really dont want it *+-sucked through the heating system

This is the best advice posted here. I got the same advice from one of the leading asbestosis doctors around. Next time if you remove it, wet it first so it stays put. Chances are if you can't actually see it, the threat is not that great. But be especially careful of fabrics - the stuff tangles into fabrics and releases slowly. If it went on a rug, throw out the rug. Tell us more as to what you mean you removed them. From the whole house? Or only one room? Did you remove the sheetrock with the popcorn on it (prolly safer) or did you shave the popcorn off the sheetrock? (As to the brake wiseguy, I know another brake worker who died of mesothelioma.) However, the ceiling asbestos is probably "white" which is several orders of magnitude less hazardous than "blue" or "grey". (To put it in perspective, fiberglas is in turn several orders of magnitude less hazardous than "white", and sand is several orders of magnitude less hazardous than fiberglas.) Most plaster from

1920-1980 is like one third asbestos (it looks like shattered eggshell by now), even what you got if you broke your arm. The Vermont mines were a cheap source back then, and they used it everywhere (and do I mean everywhere). Before that they used straw or horsehair. The reason I'm telling you this, is you need to take things into an ambient perspective. I mean the guys who built the house probably spread some of it around, as well. I once read ages ago (like the 1950s?), they let small furry animals run around inside vent systems to clean them. If you can, get hold of a specialist. Try to get your contractor or insurance to help pay for them. You have to realise that every time you make a jerk pay for being a jerk, you not only get satisfaction, you're probably saving someone else's life. Approach your local NSPE.org or ASSE.org. They can measure how much airborne asbestos there is after the cleanup when you have the HVAC running. Still, you have to be agressive and like turn on all your appliances so the vibrations release the max that will be released. Try to understand what makes asbestos so bad - it's got the longest naturally occuring aspect ratio. It's hairy rock. Mesothelioma is to lung cancer what pleurisy is to pneumonia - the stuff pokes its way out to the OUTSIDE of your lungs, not just the inside.

- = - Vasos Panagiotopoulos, Columbia'81+, Reagan, Mozart, Pindus, BioStrategist

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---{Nothing herein constitutes advice. Everything fully disclaimed.}--- [Homeland Security means private firearms not lazy obstructive guards] [Urb sprawl confounds terror] [Remorse begets zeal] [Windows is for Bimbos]

Reply to
vjp2.at

This is one of the best sites on the topic:

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- = - Vasos Panagiotopoulos, Columbia'81+, Reagan, Mozart, Pindus, BioStrategist

formatting link
---{Nothing herein constitutes advice. Everything fully disclaimed.}--- [Homeland Security means private firearms not lazy obstructive guards] [Urb sprawl confounds terror] [Remorse begets zeal] [Windows is for Bimbos]

Reply to
vjp2.at

While you understand correctly, you don't see the entire picture. The asbestos is encapsulated in the paint. There is only a tiny amount to start with so thee is little chance of the fibers actually getting into the air. The problem with asbestos is for people working in the mines and processing plants, some installers in shipbuilding. The overall scare has been greatly overblown. There is a very good article in Reader's Digest last month about the lawsuits on this type of thing.

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

Up until your last few statements, you were helpful. I'm always amazed at how the anonymity of the Internet seems to cause ordinarily polite poeple to be rude. If I'm a troll, then why bother responding.

Assuming that you actually did mean to be helpful and not rude... I

*have* read up on asbestos which is how I came to discover that I probably had it. My house was built in 1972. I attempted to wet the ceiling first, but due to the many times it has been painted, the paint kept the water from really doing its job.

Among some of the articles that I read on asbestos and its removal:

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I have zero experience with this sort of thing and have basically received my home improvement education (or lack thereof) from the Home & Garden Network. If you can put yourself in the shoes of an inexperienced do-it-yourselfer, you can probably see why the above articles gave me pause. I'm not a paranoid individual, but I imagine the above articles would put the fear of God into such an individual. I just don't want my young kids exposed to this any more than I want to see them gnawing on walls covered in lead paint.

Reply to
Ninja67

The testing company did not require an address, so they don't know where I live. Also, the house was built during a time when nearly all houses have asbestos, so anyone buying a home that age should probably assume asbestos is in the ceiling. Since I only tested one ceiling and some have been redone by previous owners, I could answer "maybe" to the question of whether or not the ceilings contained asbestos and I wouldn't be lying.

In short, disclosing asbestos content is the least of my worries. I'm much more concerned with telling potential buyers about the aluminum wiring which has never caused me problems but seems to scare off people.

Reply to
Ninja67

I'm not sure why this matters to answer my question, but I jumped online and Googled popcorn ceiling removal and found lots of websites that indicated that my house was the right age to likely have asbestos in the ceiling.

Reply to
Ninja67

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