ASBESTOS - Facts and Tips for Home Inspectors and Home Owners. A well written general overview of the issues associated with asbestos fibers, and the concerns when dealing with products that may contain asbestos fibers. This was a great reminder that dealing when dealing with these products, your personal safety is not to be taken lightly. Wear that dust mask! If need be, wear that tyvac suit to take your samples.Be safe out there!
A building permit is a permit required for new construction or renovations to existing structures. Local municipalities issue building permits for work that could affect the publics health or safety, if improperly performed.Intermediate and final inspections may need to be performed by their inspectors to verify that the work was performed in accordance with applicable building codes.
A “leaky” house causes higher energy bills and allows excess moisture and contaminants to enter the home. The places where air leaks into a house are often hidden from view. In this segment, a Georgia builder (Hedgewood Properties) demonstrates the best strategy to reduce air leakage as much as possible and to provide controlled ventilation with fresh outdoor air. Eliminating gaps in the building envelope reduces air leakage from the areas such as windows, floor and wall joints even fireplaces. You’ll see the areas sealed and the materials used by builders to keep the house from being leaky while increasing comfort for the homeowners.
There is vermiculite insulation in your attic. Not all vermiculite contains asbestos, but not knowing if the vermiculite in your attic does or doesn’t we should assume it does for safeties sake. It would be wise to stay out of the attic at this time. The vermiculite can be tested to see if it does contain asbestos.
This is an attic with vermiculite insulation. Vermiculite raising a concern in the home because prior to 1990 much of the world’s vermiculite came from a mine near Libby, Montana that had a natural deposit of asbestos, which resulted in the vermiculite produced there contained asbestos. Asbestos can cause asbestosis, lung cancer, or mesothelioma.
IR Cameras: An Overview for Inspectors
An infrared (IR) camera is a versatile, lightweight and cutting-edge device that can enhance an inspector’s understanding of a building’s different systems and components. Its ability to read heat as color and then display that information in a way that’s easily understood by homeowners and other clients makes the IR camera an increasingly important tool for inspectors to have in their equipment arsenal.Infrared cameras translate the heat signatures of objects into colors on a gradient scale, with higher temperatures appearing as lighter colors, and lower temperatures and wet areas appearing as darker colors. Also known as thermal imaging and thermography, IR technology captures the light that exists just outside the visible spectrum. Thermal images show surface-heat variations, which is why an IR camera is such a diverse tool for commercial and home inspectors that can be used for a variety of applications. Abnormally hot electrical components and connections can be viewed during an electrical inspection. Areas of moisture that may lead to leaks and structural damage can be located based on apparent temperature differences. Heat loss and air leakage in a building envelope, and even areas of insufficient insulation, can be pinpointed quickly and accurately during an energy audit.
Vermiculite can be purchased in various forms for various uses. The size of vermiculite products ranges from very fine particles to large, coarse pieces nearly an inch long. Vermiculite attic insulation is a pebble-like, pour-in product and is usually light-brown or gold in color.
Solar power is low-emission. Solar panels produce no pollution, although they impose environmental costs through manufacture and construction. These environmental tolls are negligible, however, when compared with the damage inflicted by conventional energy sources: the burning of fossil fuels releases roughly 21.3 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere annually.
There is what appears to be vermiculite insulation in the attic. Vermiculite is a naturally-occurring mineral. Processed vermiculite is a light-weight, fire-resistant, and odorless material and has been used in numerous products, including insulation for attics and walls.
A mine near Libby, Montana, was the source of over 70 percent of all vermiculite sold in the United States from 1919 to 1990. There was also a deposit of asbestos at that mine, so the vermiculite from Libby was contaminated with asbestos. Vermiculite from Libby was used in the majority of vermiculite insulation in the United States and was often sold under the brand name Zonolite. According to the EPA, if there is vermiculite insulation in a home, you should assume this material may be contaminated with asbestos. If this is the case, special steps should be taken to protect yourself and your family from possible exposure to asbestos.
For more information, click vermiculite insulation which will take you to the EPA website.
This is a good picture vermiculite insulation that I have noted numerous times during inspections in Medicine Hat, Alberta. I have always used protective masks and gloves when entering attic and then back out when vermiculite is noted. Always inform buyer.
10 ways to save energy in your home gave me some great ideas on saving energy and money in my home on a day to day basis. I will be implementing the changes throughout this year a little at a time.
this topic is important to know because most homes have this and are exposure increases the amount of fibers that remain in the lungs. Over time, fibers embedded in lung tissue may result in lung diseases, such as asbestos, lung cancer, or mesothelioma and that is something we must always watch out to never get this in any way.
articular that i took as a topic have to do with safety and how people died from unintentional injury-related deaths in 2015. That’s an all-time high. Often, these tragedies happen when least expected during a vacation, while doing chores at home or while driving across town and they are all preventable. thats why safety is something that we should always be aware of in our homes, and lives like human beings.
Vermiculite is one of those products that causes much concern and confusion. The EPA recommends not to disturb vermiculite. Yet, over time the potential for some disturbance increases because most homeowners are not familiar with this form of insulation. Removal should be done by a licensed asbestos contractor.
The picture I chose was a picture taken at an inspection I performed in south west Florida during the attic inspection I performed. It is very important while performing an attic inspection to try and identify vermiculite insulation in homes built before 1991
I chose to write my essay about attic pull down ladders. It is very often the case that homeowners usually install attic pull-down ladders (not professional contractors or carpenters). This can often be observed during a home inspection and very often results in shoddy and improperly installed units that very rarely meet safety standards and should be noted in your reports as such
Photo essay:
This photograph depicts some of the insulation observed in the attic of a circa-1925, Michigan home. Fiberglass batts had been installed between most ceiling joists. However, vermiculite insulation remained visible at several locations.
The clients and their Realtor were advised of the discovery at the inspection. Its existence was documented in my report.
**Research Essay:
**For my research essay, I read Vermiculiteby Nick Gromicko.
The article examines the historic production and use of vermiculite in home insulation. The author’s written description was an accurate representation of vermiculite insulation I recently observed in a client’s attic space.
Although vermiculite can lead to related illness and disease, proper isolation and careful work practices in its proximity help control its potential effect on human health. Beyond accurately reporting its presence and potential danger, a home inspector’s primary concern should be to avoid disturbing this product and to safeguard against his own exposure. Effective use of PPE measures before entering all attics and crawlspaces is advisable.
This attic did not appear to contain any vermiculite. The photo was taken with the use of a thermal imaging camera. The home had regular fiberglass insulation. If it had vermiculite I would have reported that it contained possible asbestos, and include the language as recommended by Internachi.
For this research assignment I read the article, asbestos: facts and tips for home inspectors and homeowners. The article mentioned other itesm, besides vermiculite that may contain asbestos. It also talked about testing materials for asbestos and repairing or encapsulation such products. In order to fully confirm asbestos content, a lab analysis had to be done. However much care must be taken in collecting the sample.