Do you have asbestos flooring in your Virginia Beach, VA home? You may, and not even realize it. There are a couple of reasons why: First, unless you know exactly what asbestos flooring tiles look like, it may be difficult, if not impossible to tell just by looking at them. Testing is the only way to be sure.
Envirotex is a licensed, asbestos inspection and abatement contractor. We offer:
Second, and this is actually much more common, it’s entirely possible that at some point before you purchased your house, a former owner floored over the asbestos flooring in your Virginia Beach, VA home. In that case, those tiles are still sitting there, lurking beneath whatever new flooring was installed.
Worse, unlike lead paint, which sellers are legally required to tell you about when you purchase a home from them, there is no legal requirement to disclose the presence of asbestos, so even if you specifically ask about it, you may or may not get a straight answer.
That’s unfortunate because asbestos was used in a variety of different ways in home construction for decades before we learned just how dangerous it was.
It’s easy to understand why. Before the dangers associated with asbestos where known, it was widely seen as a wonder material. Among other things, it is:
Those are all good things. Unfortunately, we now know that it also causes a deadly form of cancer called Mesothelioma, which renders all of its good qualities irrelevant. It’s simply too dangerous to continue making use of, which is why there has been a big push, spanning decades, to remove it from buildings, homes, and government installations.
Unfortunately, by the time we discovered how dangerous asbestos truly was, it had found its way into more than 80% of the buildings in use today. That number is slowly receding, but it will be decades yet before we can say we’ve come close to conquering the problem. Even today, asbestos can be found in:
Asbestos flooring tiles in Virginia Beach, VA reached peak popularity in the 1950’s so if your home was built back then, odds are good that you’ve got them somewhere in your house. Of course, older homes also sometimes featured such flooring tiles, so honestly, it’s possible that they’re present in any home built between 1920 and the late 1970s.
The only way to be sure is to have your home inspected and tested for the presence of asbestos, but that’s not something you can generally do on your own. It takes experience and specialized equipment, so even if you’re an experienced do it yourselfer, this isn’t something you want to even attempt to tackle on your own.
The good news is, you don’t have to. We are the top-rated hazardous materials remediation company in the region, and nobody knows more about safely dealing with asbestos flooring in Virginia Beach, VA than we do.
Note that we did not say ‘removing’ in the sentence above. We can certainly remove your asbestos flooring tiles if that’s the right answer in your particular situation, but removal is only one possibility where asbestos flooring is concerned.
We may be able to entomb it. Granted, this is not always possible, so our first step will be to inspect and test your home for the presence of asbestos in any form. Once we know exactly what we’re dealing with, we’ll be able to make a recommendation and give you a free, no-obligation estimate so you’ll have a clear understanding of exactly what it will take to get rid of the problem once and for all.
Then, assuming you’re comfortable with our estimate, we’ll send one of our veteran crews to your home and get to work.
We can entomb the asbestos flooring in your Virginia Beach, VA home if doing so will still leave you room to place some other flooring solution atop it. Entombing it simply amounts to pouring a layer of concrete atop it, sealing it inside.
Normally, as asbestos ages, it gets brittle. When it inevitably begins to crumble apart, it releases tiny particles into the air, which can be deadly. Entombing it naturally prevents this from ever occurring, and then, you can simply place some other type of flooring atop the layer of concrete we pour.
Unfortunately, entombing the offending floor tiles only represents a temporary solution. It’s effective, but there are hard limits to how many times you can floor over existing flooring. When you reach that limit, all of it has to be torn up so you can start fresh, whether your asbestos flooring tiles had previously been entombed or not, it’s going to have to be dealt with decisively at that point.
That’s why, although entombing is often the more cost effective solution since it’s not permanent, we don’t often recommend it. It’s far better to have the flooring tiles safely removed, so you never have to worry about the issue again.
If that’s the route we go for you, our process, broadly speaking, works like this:
Once we’ve identified where the asbestos is, we’ll cordon off the area and isolate it so that as we set about our work, no stray asbestos particles escape the area where they could potentially threaten you or some member of your family.
Once the area has been isolated, we can proceed with the physical removal, which will involve the use of specialized equipment to ensure that as we take the flooring tiles up, or roofing shingles, or insulation, or whatever form the asbestos in your home ultimately takes, nothing escapes.
Once the offending material has been removed from your home, we’ll gather it, along with any materials that may have become contaminated and dispose of everything at a facility that’s properly licensed to handle it. If any testing is required, we’ll be sure to use a properly accredited lab and share the results of whatever testing was done as soon as we get the results back.
Finally, after the asbestos has been removed, we’ll restore your home to the way it was before we began our work so that by the time we’re finished, no trace that we or the asbestos was ever there will remain.
It should be noted that dealing with asbestos is only one part of what we do. We deal with a wide range of hazardous materials, but the three most common are asbestos, lead paint, and mold. Whatever the specific material, our process is broadly similar to what we described above.
The bottom line is that there are more hazardous lurking in, on and around many homes in the area than most people realize. These hazardous materials pose a very real danger to you, your family, and anyone who spends significant amounts of time with you, and they’re not the kinds of things that even the most experienced do it yourselfer can safely deal with.
It’s just not worth the risk, so if you even suspect that you have any type of hazardous material in your home or anywhere on your property, the safe bet is to give our office a call and let us inspect and test. Then, you’ll know with absolute certainty what you’re dealing with, and we can work with you to map out a strategy and a path forward that will see the material gone from your life for good.
There’s tremendous peace of mind in that, and it’s nice to know that there’s a trusted expert in the region you can count on, no matter what you find yourself dealing with.
Since the day we first opened our doors, we’ve built our reputation by exceeding the expectations of each and every client we serve, and we’d love the opportunity to impress you. At the first hint that something is amiss, give our office a call right away. You’ll be very glad you did.
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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