If you are planning to renovate your home in the future, you might want to check first if your home was built before December 2003. If it was built during this era, it likely has Asbestos in it that needs to be surveyed and removed as soon as possible.
Maybe you’re thinking, “Why can’t I just remove it myself?” Well, as much as you love DIY projects, Asbestos Removal is something that you can’t do DIY.
Asbestos must be handled by professionals only. Especially if we’re talking about significant amounts of asbestos-containing materials here.
Here’s why:
Asbestos Is a Health Hazard
Source: cleanairservicesinc.com
It’s no secret that asbestos is a hazardous material that could cause several diseases to anyone who gets exposed to it.
If you’re familiar with the story of the 9/11 responders in the USA, many of them developed various lung complications more than 10 years after the the terrorist attack. These diseases were caused by asbestos inhalation during the rescue and clean up operations.
It’s no different with asbestos removal during home renovations. If you try to DIY it and you’ve accidentally inhaled a significant amount of asbestos, there’s a good chance that you’ll also develop lung diseases later in your life.
Below are only some of the asbestos diseases that you might get:
Lung cancer – asbestos dust can stick onto your lung tissues for a long period, transforming your healthy cells into cancerous ones.
Asbestosis – this disease is the scarring of your lungs caused by the inhalation of asbestos fibres. This disease doesn’t stop with just the scarring.
If you have asbestos, you’ll likely have trouble breathing or suffer from cardiac failure because of the lack of oxygen in the body.
Mesothelioma – this is a rare form of cancer that happens only in the protective linings of the lungs, chest, abdomen, and other vital organs.
This disease will only show its symptoms many years after the asbestos exposure when cancer has already spread. And once a patient is diagnosed with it, he or she will be given 1-2 years of life expectancy.
Asbestos Removal Requires Proper Training
Source: lungcancercenter.com
Since asbestos is a health hazard, the process of removing it should be extremely well-calculated to avoid further contamination not only in your home, but the in the whole neighbourhood as well.
Asbestos, when disturbed, can release thousands of asbestos dust into the air, putting everyone nearby at risk.
That’s why only a handful of well-trained and certified asbestos professionals can and should execute asbestos removal.
Not only are they equipped with the skills that are needed to extract asbestos-containing materials from your home extension, but they also have the proper tools and heavy equipment needed for the job.
Hiring professionals will not only save you time and effort, but will also save you from getting asbestos-related diseases.
Asbestos Experts Can Do It a Lot Quicker
Source: squarespace-cdn.com
When extracting asbestos, time is also of the essence. Yes, asbestos removal must be carefully done, but it doesn’t mean that it has to be slow.
This process must be completed as fast as possible. The quicker you get rid of the material, the less risk of asbestos exposure your family and neighbourhood have.
That’s why asbestos removal processes must be done by well-trained professionals only.
When hiring asbestos professionals, make sure to check their years of experience in handling asbestos. Ideally, you’d want the company you’re hiring to be in the biz at least 5 years. This way, you are assured that the asbestos-containing materials in your home will be extracted in no time.
Asbestos Must Be Disposed of Properly, Too
Source: smallbusinessrainmaker.com
Asbestos removal doesn’t just end with the extraction of the material from your home. It must be disposed of properly as well.
Asbetsos can not be simply thrown in the bin along with other household waste as it can only end up in landfills, or worse, in recycling facilities where there are workers that might get exposed to the said material.
What usually happens is that after extracting the ACMs from your house, asbestos removal workers will gather the materials in one place and carefully wrap them with plastic.
Once the materials are secured, they will bing the ACMs in a dedicated disposal facility to prevent further contamination.
DIY Asbestos Removal Is a Lot More Expensive
You might think that removing asbestos roofing sheets and other asbestos-containing materials in your home by yourself will save you a lot of money. That is quite the opposite.
Asbestos removal entails a lot of spending, from essentials tools and machinery to clean-up fees, disposal fees, and more! Not to mention you’ll also likely pay for a home asbestos inspection if your home hasn’t been surveyed yet.
But if you hire certified asbestos professionals instead, you don’t have to worry about anything of those things. All the necessary processes and fees are already covered in your contract.
The post Why Only Professionals Should Handle Asbestos Removal appeared first on InnovativeDecorIdeas.
