# asbestos in the walls (home built in the 50's)



## beecee30 (Jan 30, 2015)

Hello All, 

Having solved our lead issues, I thought we were in the clear. Now asbestos has reared its ugly head. We recently had an asbestos inspection and the found trace amounts of asbestos in the sheetrock tape/j. comp (interior walls & ceilings) in certain areas of our house (Chrysotile < 1%) I had another inspection company look at our report and they said the lab should have tested the wall sample in layers, and not as a composite. They told us by testing as a composite, we had to assume the wall contain >1% of asbestos. Any insight what this all means? Have I put my family in danger from having our walls tested?

Thanks in advance!
Brian


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## jimn (Nov 13, 2010)

Unless you are doing demo work there is nothing to worry about. Undisturb asbestos isn't going to affect you. Sometimes one can do a little too much.testing. Now if you sell the place you have to disclose the facts you know. Certainly if had insulation, pipe wrap, or floor tile that was old and it was friable I would be concerned about asbestos and take steps to remediate it. For example underneath my kitchen vinyl sheet flooring is old 9x9 floor tile. It is likely to be asbestos vinyl floor tile. It's encapsulated and I don't worry about it. But when I redo my kitchen I will need to. As far as lead goes, any house painted before 1970 probably has lead paint . As long as I am not sanding it or disturbing it it's not doing me any harm. Even the dangers of lead paint are I think highly over stated. Unless your house is so poorly maintained that paint is flaking off then I wouldn't worry about it. Asbestos not so much. But you have so little that I would just ignore it. And it's not going to affect you unless you are doing demo work.


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## beecee30 (Jan 30, 2015)

Thanks for your informative reply. Unfortunately when we had the lead and mold abated from our kitchen, they also cut out a piece of the wall. This was all before we even thought to have the house tested for asbestos, so I guess we'll just need to get an air quality test. Headaches!


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