Tips for Detecting and Dealing with Asbestos

Buying a new house or planning renovations at your existing one? If that has been built a long time ago, you can certainly face the asbestos challenge. If you don’t already know, asbestos is a tiny fibrous material that stays invisible to the eyes. It was used for its properties in construction materials until the ‘80s. However, when it was discovered to cause health issues, asbestos got banned.

So, if you are going to deal with construction in an old building, you must stay careful of those fibres. Here, we will learn the basics of how to detect asbestos.

Smell and Look of Asbestos

To begin with, you are likely to not find asbestos with your naked eyes. The fibres don’t carry any specific smell. For their visual appearance, the fibres can take different forms, textures, and colours. Plus, you should never try to check any material for asbestos by taste as this can be dangerous.

Common Areas for Asbestos Presence

Since visually identifying asbestos is difficult, you can spot changes in materials across certain areas where the fibres are most likely to be present. The most common areas where asbestos-loaded materials were used include:

• Walls
• Roofs
• Ceilings
• Bathrooms
• Kitchens
• Outbuildings, old sheds, and other outside buildings

Call a Professional

If you are dealing with an old building, avoid disturbing anything inside before a professional inspects and gives go ahead. However, even if you doubt asbestos presence at your place, you should contact licensed professionals dealing with asbestos removal in Newcastle, NSW to ensure safe detection and removal.