One of the more common environmental dangers to encounter a home is asbestos. Asbestos material that crumbles easily if sawed, scraped, or sanded into a powder is more likely to create a health hazard because it can be inhaled into the lungs, increasing the risk of disease. It’s one our main jobs as a home inspector, alerting you of environmental dangers within the home to the best of our ability. An invasive visual inspection of your property allows us to recognize possible problems, including asbestos.
Asbestos comes from building materials like glue from flooring, in plaster applied to surfaces and insulation in walls and on pipes. Naturally, it occurs as a fiber in nature and works extremely well as an insulator and adhesive. Because of its cheaper price, builders used asbestos on a more frequent basis to keep construction costs down. However, most products manufactured today don’t contain asbestos and asbestos has been phased out of building products since the 1970s with the remainder eventually phased out by the 80s.
In Hudson Valley though, many homes were built prior to the phasing out, generating a health and environmental issue within homes in the area. When asbestos becomes airborne, from damage or deterioration, it can become an issue. If you purposefully stir up an asbestos build up, you’re exponentially increasing a risk of physical harm.
After a Hudson Valley property inspection, we target a problem and communicate the issue to you so you can take the necessary steps to resolve it. If you feel your home may have an asbestos problem, give us a call. We will come in, give your home a look and help out the extent possible.