Understanding Asbestos Safety | Ask This Old House

In this video, This Old House host Kevin O‘Connor meets with environmental contractor Ron Peik to talk about asbestos, when it’s dangerous, and the steps required to identify and remove it.

Host Kevin O’Connor meets Alpine Enviromental’s Ron Peik at the shop to learn everything he needs to know about asbestos.

Asbestos was known as the “Miracle Mineral,” and as such, it was used to produce an astonishing amount of materials used in homes and consumer goods. But Its dangers have come to light over the past few decades, and now many homeowners are wondering what the real scoop is.

Where to find it?
Environmental contractor, Ron Peik demystifies asbestos and shares options for
mitigation. He explains that asbestos exposure only happens when the material is
disturbed. He warns that complications can arise due to overexposure over prolonged
periods of time. To identify all potential hazards in a building, Ron recommends having

On average asbestos mitigation will run from $2-5k. Costs vary depending on the size of
the project.

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From the makers of This Old House, America’s first and most trusted home improvement show, Ask This Old House answers the steady stream of home improvement questions asked by viewers across the United States. Covering topics from landscaping to electrical to HVAC and plumbing to painting and more. Ask This Old House features the experts from This Old House, including general contractor Tom Silva, plumbing and heating expert Richard Trethewey, landscape contractor Jenn Nawada, master carpenter Norm Abram, and host Kevin O’Connor. ASK This Old House helps you protect and preserve your greatest investment—your home.

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Understanding Asbestos Safety | Ask This Old House

[seamusbegley]

Great intro video to asbestos! Another note I wish they would have mentioned: asbestos is very common in pre-1980 applied drywall texturing, and joint compound too. It's generally a lower percentage, but still harmful. It's actually pretty uncommon to find gypsum board itself containing asbestos. The texturing and joint compound were often batch mixed on-site with asbestos, so if you take samples yourself, make sure to grab multiple samples of texturing, and drywall and joint compound to ensure you have a representative sample. Generally if there's less than 1000 square feet, take 3 samples of drywall+jc, and 3 samples of texturing. Grab more samples, like 5 - 7 of each, if the amount of material to be disturbed is greater than 1, 000 square feet. Take small quantities, wet the material prior to cutting, and vacuum any dust with a HEPA vac. Another note, if your samples come back between 1% - 10% asbestos, you can request the lab to re-analyzed them by "400 point count" methodology. This method can potentially return a result less than 1%, which the standard analysis cannot do. It's more expensive so check first with the lab before requesting it. But please remember that even if the asbestos containing building material is less than 1%, it can still expose you to asbestos fibers. Some states regulate workers disturbing <1% asbestos material, but others do not.

[rickwallace]

I saw Bob Villa interview a guy years ago, and he said they dump the asbestos back in the abandoned or closed mine.

[EliteSnake]

This Old House holding down the fort as always, really appreciate this channel

[almaxie]

This video is spot on. Technically perfect.

[PtrOBrn]

I remember my grandfather once mentioned he worked in an asbestos pit at a steel mill.

[liammcgough]

Thanks for the video. I found out the shingles on my 1950's Levitt ranch has asbestos shingles but, they are painted and good condition. Thanks for the piece of mind.

[nighthawkjA]

I use to live in house built in 1964 it has Lead Paint and asbestos. Best to not disturb it. I live in a alittle newer house now late 1990’s. So i don’t worry as much

[robertbamford]

Interesting. In our old Boston apartment, exposed hot water heating pipes running up the walls were a burn hazard - so we put on asbestos sleeves. Who knew.

[JimDean]

I remember in the '70s my dad installed an under counter light that he was afraid would get hot so we went and bought a sheet of that cementation asbestos and cut it with a hand saw right out front. No masks or anything. When we moved it was still underneath that light hanging over the kitchen counter.
The house we moved into was built in 1926 and I use the furnace room as my work room. I was a teenager by then. All of the pipes had asbestos wrapping and of course we didn't know it was bad so I would use them to hang things. There was always asbestos dust floating around down there. Probably why my lungs are so screwed up today.

[overrunwithboys]

Can you shed some light on how expensive it can be to isolate and have a special team come to remove this- if a renovation must be done?

[steveschwartz]

Good informative video. I bet Kevin's neck is sore from looking up so much.

[newsield]

In the many places I've lived and remodeled State to state have some different from the EPA. In New York 1988 remodel I had to pay 25K to remove it all, 4 years later the company that did mine was bankrupt and in court for not doing it to EPA or state law. So lost a lot trying to sell house.

[michaellinner]

Holy crap! Does asbestos turn people into giants?

[mjm.]

My house was built in 1886 with cedar shingles on the outside; long before I ever owned it, most all the houses in my neighborhood had been built by the mill town (and several other neighborhoods), and were covered with asbestos shingles because of its durability, fire-retardant, and that it takes paint really well. The town decided it was best to keep the asbestos shingles in place so the fibers would not get into the air or streams nearby. Most of the houses were all painted at least 10 - 20 years ago, and the siding still looks great and has held up well. I had my house repainted about 10 years ago and it still looks great.

[TT-mktw]

This one of the videos I should’ve watch 5 years ago.. my 1923 house has insulation that’s known to have asbestos but the home owners added new insulation on top so I found out when we were changing ceiling lights… now I have to pay 10-12k to get rid off it.. Thankfully I did good since the house is in a nice neighborhood and has doble in price in just 5 years! 5:13

[garyswisher]

You can still find products with it, although you might have to do some digging around. Canada was still mining asbestos (in Asbestos, Canada) into the early 2000s. Doing any renovation or demolition work requires an inspection for asbestos.

[dgrblue]

Asbestos is perfectly fine so long as the wrapper isnt damaged. A lot of pipe insulation used in the past was cloth or paper based and those can degrade over time.

[laurie]

How common is it in the drywall or plaster, 1956 house, mid Michigan

[georgew]

When I watch these home improvement shows, especially of older homes, I often wonder how much potential asbestos is being let loose, yet you don’t see folks wear a mask in all of that dust and debris. Same with potential lead paint, never a mention of how to abate this. Yes it’s expensive, but cheaper than the potential medical cost.

[Waffels]

Can asbestos installation be pink and yellow with brown paper on the outside