Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Okay, so my wife and I purchased a home that was built in 1970. It has the smaller nodule popcorn ceilings. They are (were) in every room. The home is 1290 sq ft. We hired a contractor who taped the whole house off in plastic, covered the furniture and appliances and scraped the ceilings. Of course, not all of it was cleaned up to perfection. There were some particles on the floor that I cleaned with a shop vac that had a HEPA filter. Also, I shampooed the carpets afterwards. Anyways, I'm not sure what method he used to scrape them, if he kept them wet or what his process was. I did mention my concerns about asbestos and he didn't seem concerned at all. He made sure everything was covered though. My question is, since he scraped the ceilings, would that leave a ton of airborne fibers? I made sure I wore a P100 respirator while I was cleaning. We also purchased an air purifier with HEPA filter (works for rooms up to 349 sq ft). I'm concerned that if he didn't have a HEPA filter in his vacuum that he expelled an obnoxious amount of asbestos fibers in the air. To make matters worse, I never tested the ceilings for asbestos, but since it was built in the 70's, I'm going to assume they did, is vermiculite used in the ceilings or is it chrysotile? I noticed some of the kernels of popcorn were kind of shiny and looked like a rock of some sort. If it was vermiculite, are we at an even greater danger? I'm concerned we're being exposed to a large amount of asbestos within the household. Am I over worrying? I know asbestos is not to be taken lightly as any amount can cause asbestos related illnesses. I've talked with multiple friends that have removed popcorn ceilings and they think I'm crazy. I've been told by my doctor that it generally takes years of long term exposure to have an ill effect on health. I feel like this is a large exposure, although there was very little clean up on my end and I didn't actually perform the task. I feel like there will always be asbestos fibers lingering in the household. Can anyone help me and give me information? Is my family at risk of an asbestos related illness? Thank you in advance!!!
Well I would have insisted on wet removal. We did our own textured ceiling removal, no asbestos as we had it tested, it was a goopy mess but came off clean.
I did recommend for him to do the wet removal process, which I believe he did. He painted the ceilings afterwards with a spray gun and one of the buckets contained water, so I'm guessing he may have used the bucket of water to keep things wet. The only actual dust on surfaces I could see were from the over spray of the paint, which cleaned up easily. Other than that, everything else was taped off including walls, carpets and vents. Did well, just anxious. Thanks for your reply!
Location: Forest Service Cabin-90% of the yr. Sis & I inherited it and I bought her out.
175 posts, read 125,179 times
Reputation: 307
Sounds like it went as it should, as you expected it to.
Dust doesn't always linger forever. Wipe down all of your baseboards, cupboards and clean the house well.
Even though he sounds like he did it right.
My father is a painting contractor so we've done a few of these jobs
Last edited by FrugalFox; 03-05-2019 at 10:05 PM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
