How To Tell If Your Attic Insulation Has Asbestos

Several years ago asbestos was commonly used in everything from shingles to floor tiles and asbestos insulation was used in many homes that were built in the 1950s and 1960s.

How to tell if your attic insulation has asbestos.

If your attic or wall insulation is in batt or blanket form whether it s fiberglass cellulose or another material you generally don t have to be concerned about asbestos. Also you need to consider if any disturbance of the insulation possibly by a contractor doing work in your attic may result in the fibers being deposited into other areas of your. The types of insulation that were most commonly made with asbestos are loose fill also called blown in insulation. Consequently if your attic insulation looks like wool you should have a sample tested in order to make sure you are safe within your home.

There isn t necessarily a surefire way to tell if your insulation has asbestos unless it s labeled or you have an expert take a look. If you do not go into your attic handle or disturb the insulation it is likely that you will not be exposed to asbestos fibers from vermiculite insulation. Loose fill insulation could have asbestos. There are many different kinds of wool like insulation that are man made and do not have asbestos but if your attic insulation looks like wool than it is best to be safe and have it tested by a professional.

Asbestos might seem like a problem of the old times but little do most people know that it is still present in a lot of homes across the u s. Do not try to remove insulation that could contain asbestos yourself. In case your home was constructed after then it does reduce your chance of containing asbestos in the insulation. It was used in construction materials including roofing materials asphalt shingles roofing felt adhesives putty caulking and patching materials.

The date of the building or material can also tell you a lot about asbestos risk. Buildings made between the 1940s and the 1980s are very likely to have used asbestos materials. Tremolite has similarities to asbestos. With many homes from that era still standing it is no surprise to run into asbestos in some capacity.

Asbestos insulation was widely used as an insulation material in most residential commercial and public buildings constructed between 1920 and 1986. Check the manufacturer and product name on the insulation label and do a web search to find out if it contains asbestos. Asbestos is actually a natural fiber so if your attic insulation looks like wool there is a slight chance that it will contain asbestos. In case your home was constructed before 1990 it could have been built using insulation containing asbestos.