Asbestos testing rec?

[Jeffro]

I was pulling out some drywall and insulation in our basement, and all was going fine until I exposed the wall underneath the fireplace. This wall is brick with white glossy paint, except where the paint is coming off in places has the appearance of cottony crystal fibers.

That was enough to stop me in my tracks, but I’m wondering what to do now. Does that sound like asbestos? Anyone have experience with testing/abatement companies? It sounds like testing and abating should go through two different companies, but should I definitely do the one before the other? Will the testing company give advice on how to best fix the situation? What have been others’ experience? Am I in for a world of hurt?

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[Hormel]

If you are looking to test it yourself this is where I had a couple of samples of our popcorn ceiling tested earlier this year, they were pretty quick to turn it around:

NOVO Laboratory

138 SW 154th Street

Burien, WA 98166

You can mail it in or drop it off, just request an analysis for bulk asbestos content. Price is about $15 per sample.

Look at http://www.psapca.org as a starting point on the regulations. I was given a list of asbestos contractors from a local hazmat consultant our clients use. (I have no experience with any of them though):

Chris Eckholm, American Environmental, 206-267-0746

Don Yamamoto, Eco Environmental Services, 253-981-4067

Eric Maughan, EWR Nuprecon, 425-952-2948

Larry Stumpf, Walker Specialty Construction, 206-361-8913

Good luck!

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[DaveB]

Not in WS, but I used LabCor a few years ago.

http://www.labcor.net/

Turnaround was fast and the report was easy to understand.

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[Mike D.]

Jeffro,

NVL Labs is another testing company that you can turn to: http://www.nvllabs.com/home.html

Good for you for actually doing what plenty of people don’t do. The amount of asbestos and lead spread around inside and outside of homes by DIY’ers sanding, grinding, or demoing is rather alarming. People will spend money on organic food, however at the same time create a huge health hazard inside their own homes.

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[homedk]

I researched this a couple of years ago before we had some asbestos siding removed & again very recently when we were seeking bids for the removal of a popcorn ceiling. I discovered a lot of great info online including photos; I’d recommend checking online in that it might help you determine if what you are seeing is asbestos or not.

If you want to take a sample, make sure you spray it with water first & then put it into a secure container; don’t sand it or scrape it when it’s dry because small particles can be released into the air.

We skipped the testing step, because we were pretty certain that what we had contained asbestos & we wanted it gone in any case. The abatement companies that came to give bids were helpful in verifying that we were correct. Testing isn’t expensive (around $35, I think), but sometimes there is really no need to have it tested if you plan to have it removed anyway.

The company that removed our asbestos siding was:

Bill Thornton, One-Step Environmental Abatement LLC, (206) 359-1079, Fax (206) 260-7003.

Another company that was recommended to us & seemed very responsive & competitively priced is: Mike Correll, Action Abatement LLC, (206) 793-1451.

Hope this helps!

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[PDieter]

It’s most likely not asbestos it’s a either a type of mold or fluorescence from water seeping in/through the brick. The exterior might need sealing to stop it. It’s also probably why there’s the white paint on the inside.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&ei=5U3LStL9O5rMswOWwMzfBQ&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=bricks+white+efflorescence&spell=1

http://web.bsu.edu/ien/archives/2001/092701.htm

http://www.google.com/search?q=mold+bricks+white&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

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[Jeffro]

Thanks everyone for your replies. I looked at the various asbestos images, and couldn’t find anything that looked like what I had, but when I saw mention of asbestos in paint that got me suspecting that to be my case.

PDieter, your links sound exactly like what I see, which is a lot like your picture but definitely with more fluff and crystals to it, probably due to being inside in an enclosed space. Your post has been a tremendous relief to me. I was beginning to feel like I was in over my head.

I’ll still get the stuff tested to be on the safe side, but I’ll stop making plans for a visit by the asbestos removers. I’m sure I’ll need them soon enough for the popcorn ceiling.

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