Could you benefit from our asbestos inspection service in Virginia Beach, VA? If you live in an older home, say one built in the 1970s or earlier, the odds are excellent that you could. Few people understand or fully appreciate just how common asbestos is in the homes and office buildings in use today.
Envirotex is a licensed, asbestos inspection and abatement contractor. We offer:
Builders began using the material in construction way back in the 1920s, and that practice continued up through the 1970s until it was finally banned by the EPA. Of course, back in the early days, nobody had any idea that it was dangerous. We just didn’t understand the risks and dangers. All builders saw was what appeared to be a miracle material.
It’s easy to see how they reached that conclusion. After all, asbestos has a number of amazing properties that builders prized highly. It was an excellent insulator. It was fire resistant. Easy to stain or paint, and very easy to replace. It’s no wonder then that the EPA estimates asbestos is in up to 80% of the buildings in use today.
Yes, you read that number correctly. Eighty percent! Although efforts have been underway since the ’80s to remove asbestos from everywhere it has been used; it’s a positively massive undertaking that will take decades yet to complete.
All that to say is that if you’re currently living in an older home, yes, you almost certainly could benefit from our asbestos inspection service in Virginia Beach, VA.
The main reason is this: Although builders haven’t been allowed to use asbestos in construction for a long time, and although it’s a banned substance, sellers aren’t required to disclose its presence to prospective buyers of their homes.
It could easily be the case that the person you bought your home from didn’t know there was any asbestos present. It could also be the case that he absolutely knew, but since he was under no obligation to tell you, he didn’t. There’s no way to know for sure.
What we do know is that asbestos is dangerous and poses a very real risk to your health and the health and safety of your family. It’s well worth finding out for sure if your home contains asbestos in some form or another, which is the main value of our asbestos inspection service in Virginia Beach, VA.
It’s also important to have such testing done if you’re planning a major renovation on your home and you don’t yet have a definitive answer on the matter. After all, if your home does contain asbestos somewhere and you start bringing in contractors and doing demolition work, then everyone who works on or in your home is at risk. Not good.
Even worse is the fact that asbestos was used in a variety of different ways in home construction over the years, so there’s not just one single place to look for its presence. Among other things, it was used as:
The good news is that our asbestos inspection service in Virginia Beach, VA is both exacting and comprehensive. If there’s any asbestos lurking in your home in any form, we’ll find it. If we do find it, we can recommend the best remediation strategy for the specific form of asbestos you’ve got.
You may be surprised to know it, but the process of removing asbestos from your home isn’t as cut and dried as you might think. Depending on what form it takes, different strategies could be employed.
For example, if you have asbestos on your roof, it may be possible to cover the material with layers of felt and simply roof over it.
Obviously, there are hard limits on how many times you can roof over existing materials, and at some point, you’ll need a remediation specialist to tear it all down so you can start fresh, but that may be the most appropriate strategy in the here and now.
The same type of strategy can be used in cases where a home is covered in asbestos siding. Current best practices involve sheathing the asbestos in foam and siding over it. Again though, there are limits to how many times that can be done before all the old siding has to come down so you can start fresh.
Where asbestos floor tiling is concerned, the two most common approaches are removal or entombment. Rather than tearing up the asbestos floor tiles, it may be possible to bury them beneath a layer of concrete, then put some new type of flooring on top of that, sidestepping the more complex issue of removal.
In cases where asbestos was used as an insulating material, the best approach is simple removal, but even that isn’t as simple as it first appears, and at this point, we should say that even if you’re an experienced do it yourselfer, asbestos removal isn’t something you want to attempt on your own.
Handling this material safely takes specialized equipment and years of experience. Always call a professional when dealing with asbestos!
The reason removal is tricky is that although your risks are minimal when the asbestos is completely intact, as it gets older, it grows quite brittle and is prone to crumbling. Any attempt at removal is likely to cause it to crumble.
When that happens, tiny asbestos particles will go airborne and are easily inhaled. Once inside your body, they’ll begin agitating your airways. If you suffer from an upper respiratory condition like asthma or COPD, you can expect asbestos exposure to worsen them, and in some cases, exposure to asbestos particles can cause a deadly form of cancer known as Mesothelioma. In short then, it’s no laughing matter.
Ultimately then, this is the reason our asbestos inspection service in Virginia Beach, VA is so popular and widely used. Nobody wants to take chances with the health and well-being of their family, and if there’s even a possibility that your home contains asbestos in some form, that’s something you want to know right away so you can begin making plans for its safe remediation.
Our process, although comprehensive, doesn’t take terribly long and once we’ve finished, we’ll give you a full report on our findings. If it turns out that you do have asbestos somewhere in your home, we’ll also give you an outline of recommended next steps, along with a free, no-obligation estimate for how much it would cost to have us deal with the matter decisively on your behalf.
Assuming you’re comfortable with our estimate, we can begin right away. In broad strokes, our process works like this:
Step 1 – Isolation. Wherever the asbestos is, we’ll cordon that area off, isolating it from the rest of your home or property so that as we proceed with removal, the asbestos particles that go airborne don’t wind up filtering into other areas of your home.
Step 2 – Remediation. Safely and completely removing all traces of the material from wherever it is located in or on your home.
Step 3 – Disposal. As you might expect, the process of tearing out the asbestos generates debris, but this is not something you have to worry about. Proper removal and disposal of hazardous materials is part of our service, and we’ll see to it that it is disposed of in a lawful manner and at a facility that’s properly licensed to handle it.
Also note that in some cases, lab testing of the material may be required by law. If such testing is required, when we get the results back, we’ll share them with you.
Ours is a comprehensive, end to end service that increases the safety of your home. A safer home is a healthier home, and isn’t that what everyone wants for their family? We think so, which is why we do what we do.
Don’t leave your family’s health and safety to chance. If you suspect there might be asbestos or any other hazardous material in your home or around your property, give us a call right away. We’ll let you know for sure, and take care of it for you.
About Envriotex Environmental Services
Established in Northern Virginia in 2000, Envirotex Environmental Services was founded on military service. While serving his country, the company's owner Mr. Freeman gained vast knowledge and experience in the environmental services field. His expertise in air monitoring and hazardous materials testing prepared him for his post-military career.
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