Asbestos Survey in County Durham

Asbestos is very dangerous if inhaled. It can cause a variety of lung-related diseases. Asbestos will generally not be released into the air unless it is disturbed. You should be very careful if you suspect there may be asbestos in your home and have a survey carried out to check that it is not being released into the air.

An asbestos survey is a property inspection to check for the presence of asbestos. A professional will go around your building and look at and take samples of any materials that they think may contain asbestos. These will then be tested to see if asbestos is present.

There are two types of asbestos survey, a Management Asbestos Survey and a Refurbishment and Demolition Asbestos Survey. A Management Asbestos Survey is mainly conducted to check if any materials containing asbestos pose a risk to inhabitants during everyday use of a building. A Refurbishment and Demolition Asbestos Survey is designed to check for any asbestos exposure risks before building work is started on a property.

By now, every homeower should be fully aware of the dangers of asbestos due to the fact that it can be found in a wide range of building products from the roofs and walls and right down to the floor tiles. An exposure to asbestos especially when disturbed can be life threatening as it can lead to a plethora of health issues which includes lung cancer, mesothelioma, asbestosis and lots more.

Asbestos are more dangerous when damaged or disturbed, but if they’re found in a great shape and are left undisturbed, then asbestos containing materials poses little to no threats. This dangerous material can be found in a large variety of insulation. And when compared to batt insulation, loose-fill insulation can be highly dangerous when it’s not installed in the right way. When poorly done, several particles of the asbestos can be released inside the wall or around pipes. As a result, insulation becomes a big worry that most homeowers will face down the road.

Homes that were constructed before the 1980’s commonly features steam pipes, hot water pipes as well as furnace ducts insulated with asbestos containing materials. And this is primarily because there’s no other fire retardant, thermal as well as acoustic insulator like asbestos that’s as effective and affordable as it is. However to really know if your building’s insulation is made with asbestos containing materials, you can take the following steps:

✓ Find out when your house was built. If it was constructed or renovated before the 1980’s then it’s likely to contain some asbestos materials.

✓ Although this is not advisable, but if you plan on checking the insulation by yourself, you should ensure to put on protect equipment such as goggles, gloves, masks and a safety suit.

✓ Check for insulation available in the building. The asbestos containing insulation in both batt and loose-fill types are grey-coloured so this shouldn’t be too hard to spot.

✓ Examine the pipe coverings especially the blanket type and cardboard coverings.

A typical Homebuyer Report or Building Survey Report doesn’t usually involve checking for asbestos. Your surveyor may let you know that there are certain parts of the property that are likely to contain asbestos, but they won’t do any testing. This means that, if you want to be sure about whether a property contains asbestos, you need to get an asbestos survey.