Asbestos 101

What is asbestos? Asbestos was discovered in the early 1900’s and was known to be a great material used to build homes with. This material was great at being fire resistant as well as being very strong and sturdy for your home. Asbestos was used a lot on shingles until the late 1900’s when they soon found out that it caused diseases. If your Sandusky home happened to be build at this time, do not panic. Your home may or not have been built using asbestos. Just because your home may have asbestos, does not mean you are going to develop that disease. The only time asbestos becomes dangerous is when the material breaks down and the fibers inside are then released causing a health risk for you.

If you do happen to find out that your home does have asbestos, then most of you want to have it removed as quickly as possible. However, do not attempt to remove this on your own. This a job that should definitely be left to the professionals. If you do not remove this material the proper way, you could cause the fibers to become loose thus putting you and your family at great risk. Because of this, there are many regulations and laws when it comes down to the disposal of this material.

Many times the professionals will look at your roof and shingles to see if they are in good condition. If your shingles still look like they are in good condition, then most times they will leave them because the fibers will not become loose meaning you are not at risk with your health. If you still decide that you want to remove the asbestos, you need to make sure that you do not cut or drill into them to cause the fibers to become loose. However, if your shingles are in bad condition, then you can do one of two things. You can either remove it, or you can repair it. In order to repair them, you need to have a professional come to make sure the task is done properly and to make sure there isn’t any risk for someone’s health. Removal of the shingles can be very difficult because most places do not allow for disposal of asbestos.

Most of us think that doing this is going to be expensive. Well, you are correct. However, there are many regulations that need to be met to make sure the removal has been done properly. You have to make sure that the removal and transportation of the asbestos has been done safely as well as using the protective clothing. You have to be extremely careful when it comes to removing the material to make sure that no fibers get let into the environment causing harm. This is a very costly and serious undertaking. Even though this can be an expensive task to do, it is definitely worth every penny to have peace of mind in your Sandusky home.