Asbestos contamination in the home is an example of how the use of a product (asbestos) in what we thought were many beneficial ways turned out instead to be a potential detriment to the health of our families. Asbestos is a mineral fiber that actually had wonderful properties for fire resistance, heat insulation and strength when added to other fibers.

Where do you find Asbestos in a home

Asbestos was typically used in homes starting around 1930. However, asbestos in textured paint and joint patching compounds was not banned in homes until 1977. In the last several years I have had real estate transactions in the Central Illinois area alone where asbestos was found in the roofing material, in siding and also on furnace ductwork so it is out there in residential homes. In the home you might also find it in floor tiles, textured paint or spray on decorative materials, and joint compounding. Older boilers or wood burning stoves indicate additional sources of asbestos use.

How Asbestos can affect your family

If you inhale a sufficient amount of asbestos fibers they can result after about 20 or 30 years in lung cancer, mesothelioma and asbestosis. Literature suggest a small amount of asbestos fibers inhaled do not cause health problems but who wants their family members to test this out.

How to determine if the home has Asbestos

Some materials may actually have an old label indicating it contains asbestos. Persons who are experienced inspecting for asbestos may have a good idea by simply viewing the materials. The asbestos roofing I mentioned typically had a wavy greenish color but could have been a slate material. The only way to know for sure is laboratory testing to identify the asbestos fiber. In the roof case a laboratory analysis indicated the roofing was made of approximately 20% asbestos fibers.

If you are buying an older home and you have any concern about asbestos in the house (you observe slate type roofing or siding, padded blanket type insulation over ductwork, you know the house at one time might have used a boiler with steam pipes or the older oil and coal furnace or used a wood burning stove, etc.) you must consider hiring an asbestos inspector who will conduct an inspection, take samples of suspected materials for testing and assess the results. This is particularly important in older homes that had extensive remodeling or for which you plan remodeling. The remodelling may have or could release asbestos fibers into the air. To protect yourself as a buyer you should have a specific asbestos inspection and repair provision in your contract that allows a complete "out" from the contract without liability and return of the earnest money if a serious asbestos contamination is found. However, in my 25 years of residential real estate work I have never seen such an inspection and repair paragraph for asbestos in a standard contract. This means you need an attorney to write the specific provision for a proper asbestos inspection. My asbestos inspection paragraphs allows a complete "out" to a buyer if the initial asbestos inspection reveals the possibility of contamination. However, the buyer can proceed with actual testing and remediation if desired.  Any remediation must be done by an asbestos contractor with approved Federal and State training.

Asbestos Inspections

The asbestos inspection must be done by a certified asbestos inspector backed up by a company trained in the asbestos area. Most inspections are done on a time charged basis. You should expect a walk through examination with a report of possible asbestos sites in the home to run $400 to $500. This charge can increase with the size of the house. If you proceed with sampling of the suspected sites you should require up to 3 samples from each site with an approximate charge of $20 laboratory charge for each sample. Air sampling for asbestos is expensive. You will need to contact an asbestos company for a quote on air sampling. From confirmed samples you would then proceed to a plan for remediation or removal.

One company in Central Illinois that I would suggest for asbestos inspections, testing, remediation and/or removal is Ideal Environmental Engineering, Inc. Their phone number is (800) 535-0964. They maintain an excellent website for asbestos information at www.idealenvironmental.com

What should a seller do with Asbestos contamination

All the literature recommends that if the asbestos is in good condition than you should leave it alone. It is only asbestos that is damaged to such an extent that fiber is released into the air that creates a health hazard.

In Illinois, the seller must reveal any knowledge of asbestos in the Illinois Residential Disclosure form. Failure to do so can allow a home buyer to sue on the basis of the Disclosure form for up to one year and recover attorney fees. There are other theories of recovery for a buyer with longer statute of limitations. Even if the seller was not aware of asbestos contamination, the seller may have to spend time and money convincing a court of this lack of knowledge when an angry buyer discovers and sue for asbestos contamination.

I do not suggest to home sellers that that they go out and specifically look for asbestos. However, if the seller is definitely aware of asbestos they should consider its removal prior to offering their home for sale. The revelation of asbestos will scare off many buyers. Asbestos, whether considered safe by the EPA or not, will always be a detriment to a home sale. In the asbestos roofing example I mentioned, the home owner decided to remove and replace the roofing by a certified asbestos roofing contractor in part because of concern for resale later. Additionally, asbestos roofs are difficult to repair as the nails start to rust out so that the shingles move and the roof leaks.

Educate yourself about Asbestos

The purpose of this website is only to briefly discuss the asbestos issue in the context of a home sale or purchase and to direct the home seller or buyer to more complete sources. The EPA has published a primer on asbestos called Asbestos in Your Home EPA 400 K 90100. You can find and download this publication at the publication site for the Federal government, EPA, located at:

http://nepis.epa.gov/EPA/html/Pubs/pubtitle.htm

Use your Search Page tool to find the publications dealing with asbestos. You can also conduct a general internet search on asbestos.