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Should I Hire An Asbestos-Abatement Company?

Even if you can handle an abatement project yourself, you may not want to. Doing it yourself can relieve you from a lot of reporting and notification burdens of federal and state regulations, but it does not relieve you from the responsibility to protect the community and neighbors from asbestos exposure. Neither does it excuse you from the risk of an accident that might expose you and your family to the fibers. If you hire anyone to help with any work that involves asbestos-containing materials, you are legally bound by the same regulations that a professional abatement contractor would be.

Nearly every locality will require workers on a site, that may be exposed to asbestos, are clearly informed of the risks they face and the measures being taken for protection. If a licensed contractor is used, they will take care of all notifications and will have the required posters and forms on hand. Their regular work crews will be completely familiar with the precautions they have to take. In some states, the workers will have their own licenses. Hiring help yourself will create a much bigger and more complicated job to do, along with doing it in unfamiliar territory. You will need flawless relationships with your local authorities and you'll want to check out the liabilities carefully with an attorney who is more familiar with the concerns than you are.

In many states, all public buildings must be done by professionals. Homeowners may do their own only if they have no tenants, occupy the home themselves, and will not be selling the house within a specified period of time. A state may require a professional inspection to document the condition of asbestos-containing materials in the air and around your home before and after the abatement project. Some states require inspections before any demolition or renovation project to determine whether there is asbestos-containing material that will be affected. If asbestos is found and will be disturbed by the work, it must be removed properly and disposed of at an approved facility.

Even under the best circumstances, the special requirements of safe handling of asbestos will make the project physically demanding and potentially dangerous:

• Breathing through a respirator is more difficult than breathing on your own, especially when you're doing heavy physical labor such as demolition and construction.
• The protective clothing, because it is airtight, can be hot and uncomfortable. You will be duct-taped into coveralls, rubber gloves, and boots.
• The workspace itself is a fairly unpleasant environment with the air kept humid to keep down the dust. Water is constantly sprayed around to wet down the asbestos. The water can even make working extra dangerous, if you do not get all of the power cut off.
• You cannot use power tools anyway, because they raise too much dust.
• You will have to wear goggles, which will reduce your field of vision and may fog over and collect your sweat. You cannot wear contact lenses, even under the goggles, because of the risk of getting any dust under them will cause scratching of your cornea when you cannot get at your eye to clear it. You will have to make do with available light, or with work lamps plugged in from outside the work area.
• You cannot eat or drink while you're in the work area.

If you plan to take on such a project, it is advised to have at least two adults helping you. There needs to be two working in the contained area where the asbestos is being removed, and one to stay at the door to bring in tools and supplies. This "gofer" should not come into the contained area, and the fully protected workers should not come out until the job is done and they can remove and discard their protective gear.

Professional workers often run into problems that may be beyond your ability. For instance, to start a project involving the removal of acoustical plaster, isolating the room from the rest of the house is necessary. Next, two main workers must be sealed in their protective suits. You also need to have a spray bottle of detergent-amended water ready and make sure it is going to allow you to wet the asbestos-containing material completely. Start with just a few square inches of ceiling and wait fifteen to twenty minutes for the water to soak in, re-spraying the patch several times. While scraping off the material, catch it on a piece of sheet plastic in another hand and examine it carefully. If it is not wet completely through, you may have to change your detergent-to-water mix or spray and wait even longer on each patch. If, after trying various spray procedures, you are unable to saturate material all the way to the ceiling surface behind it, the project is beyond your capabilities. Hiring a contractor will be necessary.

Homeowners are generally exempted from federal regulations for labeling a vehicle transporting asbestos debris and documenting the shipment, provided the job is not otherwise regulated. However, you must transport the debris in your own vehicle and make arrangements with a qualified and certified dump. You are never exempted from liability for a spill, whether it is at the home, in the car, or anywhere you may be trying to dispose the asbestos debris. There is an awful lot to take into account, and relying on professionals may be the best way to manage it.

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