# Asbestos in plaster walls??



## jaketrades (Mar 2, 2017)

I'm interested in buying a small multi family which will need a complete gut. It was built in 1920. 


The walls seem to be done with plaster. Will the walls have asbestos in them? I'm planning on knocking down most of the units interior walls and reframing the home. 






















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## christoff (Feb 26, 2008)

I would get it tested for asbestos before demo


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## Windows on Wash (Aug 30, 2011)

+1

Should be easy enough to collect some samples and get some lab data. If it turns out that you don't, you can work much faster and safer. Well worth the investment on the front end to have all the information in my opinion.


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## jaketrades (Mar 2, 2017)

Was it common to have asbestos in wall building material back then? 1920s.

I've heard it's typically used as pipe insulation. 

Let's say there is asbestos in those walls, can I demo while wearing a respirator designed for asbestos?


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## christoff (Feb 26, 2008)

If you do a search, there are a number of articles regarding this topic. It looks likely that there was asbestos in the 20's


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## mark sr (Jun 13, 2017)

The biggest concern with asbestos is the dust! When you can keep it damp until it's contained there isn't much of a health concern. I think asbestos was added by some [maybe most] but not all to the plaster back in that time period. As the others said - get it tested, then you know for sure!

Some locales have strict regs on asbestos disposal, some don't.


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