Asbestos Abatement - We Do That

11/17/2020 (Permalink)

Asbestos is a term that carries a lot of weight to it. You may already have seen commercials about it before, urging the public to check for asbestos within their homes due to the serious health risks linked with long and consistent exposure to the materials. Mesothelioma is the primary concern. It is characterized as a tumor of the tissues that line your lungs, stomach, and heart. It really is a serious concern and it’s important to know how to go about checking for asbestos.

Production of asbestos originally began in the early 20^th century as a popular building material. It can be found in all sorts of things, to gaskets, roofing sealants, wall panels, ceiling panels, and more. It was well used in all sorts of things because of its natural fire retardant, sound absorbent, and insulative properties. Until the 1980’s asbestos could be found in just about every household until it was found that prolonged exposure could cause serious health risks.

It was found that when asbestos particles found their way into our bodies, they would get lodged in major organs, clogging them up and occasionally forming very harmful tumors. These tiny fibers could get stuck inside these organs forever, irritating healthy cells until health issues such as mesothelioma developed.

In the restoration and mitigation industry, exposure to asbestos is a very real threat our production team can be faced with as we go about our tasks job. Breaking down drywall, opening up air vents, taking apart plumbing, and then rebuilding it all. If not properly tested for, we aren’t doing our due diligence to keep us, the employees, or you the property owner, safe. Safety is always a top priority especially in our business, and our job first and foremost is to make sure our customers are safe and secure from the initial call to years after a job is completed. This is why we give you the information because knowledge and understanding is the first defense against any mishap.

Common Building Materials Containing Asbestos

As follows, but not limited to:

• Resilient Floor Tiles (specifically vinyl sheet flooring and other adhesive tiles
• Soundproofing or decorative material (i.e. popcorn ceilings)
• Patching and joint compound for walls and ceilings
• Textured paints
• Asbestos cement roofing, shingles, and siding

Our team performs asbestos testing as commonplace practice before we start any demolition job as it is important to the safety of all involved. We utilize a third party Industrial Hygienist (WHO?) to perform testing on samples and compile a protocol for abatement (a term commonly used to describe the lessening of something) in the case of positive results.

In the past, we subcontracted with external Asbestos Abatement services needed to third party providers. However, since 2018, our internal teams have completed the training, testing, and certification processes required to perform Asbestos Abatement in house so that we can get onto the demo stage faster and enrich our teams with better knowledge in the process.

Example

In late 2020, we (Team Wall) completed an Asbestos Abatement at a large scale senior living facility in West Virginia. A kitchen fire had escalated into the attic space of a four unit townhome, two of the four units suffered extensive fire damage and were in desperate need of a quick demo and mitigation so that we could get to the rebuild stage and get those poor tenants back into their homes as soon as possible. Luckily, because of our certifications, we were able to get this done faster due to our ability to conduct this in house, where as other companies might take extra days or even weeks to get the O.K. to start demolition.

It’s a good thing we did too. When the asbestos test came back we found that the mastic underneath the tiles as well as the joint compounds used in the initial construction of the house came up positive for asbestos. Being trained, our team got to work in completing a full scale asbestos abatement in order to decontaminate the units and begin demoing’  with the end goal of replacing the whole unit with all new materials in mind.

At the time of writing this, our team received clearance a week ago and are now finishing up reconstruction services, whereas some other companies might now only have been on the demolition proves. On the exterior, we replaced windows, siding, and the whole roof. On the interior, we installed all new duct work, electrical wiring, plumbing insulation, all new kitchen cabinetry, countertops, appliances, drywall, flooring, trim, and finished it off with a fresh coat of paint, through ALL the units affected. Truly, we are a one stop shop.

Yep, we did that too.

SERVPRO is unfortunately though of as solely a water and fire mitigation company. People think, we go in, wipe some soot off of a wall and leave, but, as you can see, we are so much more than that and our services stretch far and wide. If your property has been affected, seemingly by anything, give us a call. If you need a team that can truly “be-all do-all”, you’re in the right place, and you’re in safe hands.

Disaster Recovery Team – Team Wall