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Asbestos in ceiling what to do?

M

Mia333

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 4, 2021
12
1
My roomate took small asbestos ceiling sample in his room, was scraping 20 min because it was harder, like a paint, didnt see any white dust, but when i rubbed the ceiling before i had white powder on my finger.

Is there lot of asbestos now? Is it safe to go there? (it has bed, carpet... where it could land) What could I do to make sure it is asbestos free as much as possible? Can I vacuum the carpet there?

Should he buy proper mask and special clothes while painting the small hole? Should he wet it before painting?

Also clothes and stuff were rubbing against this asbestos ceiling since its inside big closet. How to best safely clean the stuff? Do I need to hire asbestos cleaning company?

Also which mask and vacuum is good for asbestos?

Any advice appreciated!
 
is the ceiling painted
in the 1950's / 60's they put asbestos in everything inc plaster.

likely the room has been painted last 5-10years tho. should cover up the asbestos. your renting?

keep in mind until fairly recent they allowed the use of talcum powder even tho it was / could be contaminated with asbestos. so the clothing; wash what you can. the items that cant be washed put them in the dryer, no heat for an extended period of time.

the asbestos could be? in everything; 4example cement, plaster, tile floor mastic, insulation, 8x8" floor tile, out door siding, roofing and well the stuff they use to fill cavities in teeth back in the 50's. Just saying. it is acceptable to cover it up. If you own the place have a dry wall company come in (be up. front on your situation) and put everywhere ¼" drywall and re texture re paint.

its your call do what you need to do
conspiracy theory; if you had the unit tested and they asked the address of where the sample came from, it is likely on a federal data base just now.
 
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do nothing, if the particles are not loose,

are you renting?
if so they have a certificate stating there is no lead paint and abestoes

off topic, when i studied carpentry in 1982, we installed asbestos ceiling tiles on our project houses we constructed.
lucky we did not have to cut or alter any tiles then!
 
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Thank you very much everyone for the advices! Very appreciate that!

The condo is from 1970 year. It is renovated but has the original ceiling. The ceiling was painted I think because it was very hard to scrape it. When I lightly touched it nothing, but when i rubbed it white powder was left on my finger. Could that be just paint? Not sure if paint can leave white powder. My roomate just bought the condo so we both trying to figure out what to do. Could a painted ceiling be releasing still some fibers?

All I want to figure out at the moment is how much fibers could released when sample was taken and if i have to go and buy 1000$ asbestos vacuum (and never use regular vaccum again) or call asbestos cleaning company to clean the asbestos after sample and in my closet or if i should throw everything out or clean it myself. (the ceiling is painted i think so again no idea if the fibers still went into those things what were rubbing against ceiling or the paint protected it from releasing)
And if he needs to buy mask and protection when he is going to pain the hole from the sample or not. Thanks!
 
We can't tell you what to do, but as stated your health and that of everyone living there is important. Hiring a professional to test the ceiling and clean if necessary is what is probably best.

However, are you sure that it's asbestos? It may be a fiber board ceiling that has been painted over several times.

Building codes have changed over the years to where nowadays asbesto use is prohibited. A building constructed in 1970 probably did not fall under new building codes for your area. But if the condo was refurbished, it had to be inspected and approved by local building code inspectors. Of course that depends on who did the refurbishing and whether it was ever inspected to meet current standards.
 
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The thing about asbestos is yes if you work with it drilling etc through it, sanding it, cutting it you are at risk. But having a house with asbestos in the walls and ceiling’s isn’t going to harm you. If you do have to do some work wear protective equipment or call in the professionals.
My house was built in 60’s. The asbestos in it doesn’t bother me.
 
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jeyf said:
keep in mind until fairly recent they allowed the use of talcum powder even tho it was contaminated with asbestos. so the clothing; wash what you can. the items that cant be washed put them in the dryer, no heat for an extended period of time.
Click to expand...
just to emphasise an approach to this...
do what you feel is necessary.

not that expensive if you shop around, a one day project, long term you might want to get someone in to cover the celing with thin ¼" drywall and retexture repaint. Let the workers know you suspect assbestos.
 
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Recently I also started to wonder about the nature of the persisting white powder in the filter of my handheld vacuum. Upon contact with water the powder seems to turn into a paste/cement like substance. I lived in a different flats but I don't think I ever saw my vacuum filter look like this.

9CD617F6-1F67-4782-9250-1D44FF281F1E.jpg
62FB6D12-7D24-4162-A185-97456C2D7742.jpg
 
Is your ceiling smooth or textured? Lot of ceiling were sprayed with a texture compound in those days. Previous tenants may have painted over texture.
 
Allyance said:
Is your ceiling smooth or textured? Lot of ceiling were sprayed with a texture compound in those days. Previous tenants may have painted over texture.
Click to expand...
Its a textured popcorn ceiling which tested positive for asbestos. It is painted looks like because it was very hard to get the sample, was not a powder only.
 
Getting rid of the popcorn is a PIA. Unless it has been damaged by water or previous work and and you really don't like it. Best to leave it in place and spray it with a fresh coat of paint if discolored. Sometimes the mitigation is worse than the problem.
 
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Mia333 said:
My roomate took small asbestos ceiling sample in his room, was scraping 20 min because it was harder, like a paint, didnt see any white dust, but when i rubbed the ceiling before i had white powder on my finger.

Is there lot of asbestos now? Is it safe to go there? (it has bed, carpet... where it could land) What could I do to make sure it is asbestos free as much as possible? Can I vacuum the carpet there?

Should he buy proper mask and special clothes while painting the small hole? Should he wet it before painting?

Also clothes and stuff were rubbing against this asbestos ceiling since its inside big closet. How to best safely clean the stuff? Do I need to hire asbestos cleaning company?

Also which mask and vacuum is good for asbestos?

Any advice appreciated!
Click to expand...

Abestos isn't a problem unless it's airborne. You say a small sample? How much dust is there?

You should wear PPE (goggles, mask + gloves... ideally an N100 mask, though I'm sure N95 is fine for a small amount). I would recommend wiping up the dust with a damp cloth rather than vacuuming it if possible. Without a vacuum with appropriate HEPA filtration, you risk creating a bigger mess by creating more airborne. Wash everything else (bedding). If there's a lot of dust in the carpet, the safest thing would probably be to use one of those wet vacuums for carpets that you can rent.

Assuming your walls are painted, clothes rubbing on the wall should not be a problem.

Again, asbestos is not harmful unless it is airborne (i.e. cutting it, removing it). Asbestos abatement is extremely expensive if done professionally and a dirty job... not something I would want to do. Often people making renovations will just cover the asbestos with new material rather than tear it up and replace it. It's actually a very good insulator and fire proof material.

You say this is a roommate? Do you own this property or is it a rental?

If he merely removed a small sample, I don't think you have much to worry about unless he somehow managed to make a huge mess. Otherwise just clean up the mess as best you can. The real risk of asbestos are people who spend a lot of time around large amounts of its dust (fibers technically)- people who mine it, handled it as a building material before it's dangers were unknown and use was restricted, etc.

Asbestos is a remarkable material. It's too bad it's dust is dangerous.
 
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I remember removing asbestos from the ceiling of a house I bought in Seattle around the year 2000, because I could whack it and see powder fly. I wanted to redo this ceiling anyway because whoever had the place before marred it up real bad in spots.

I decided to call people in to remove this. Normally I do these things myself but it was going to be a big job and I didn't have proper equipment to protect myself. I would recommend calling asbestos removal if you're interested in removing/redoing large portions of the ceiling, if it's just a bit and there's not a lot of dust flying, get some protective gear if you can find it and painting over it should take care of it. As long as you are unable to release asbestos particulate and dust into the air with normal "wear and tear" of living in the condominium, you should be fine.

Popcorn ceilings are really messy. I did help my dad remove one about 25 years ago. Would've been best to just leave it but someone fell through the ceiling and it was heavily damaged, so there was no recourse from that.
 
if you own the proptery and it bothers you:
Please consider getting a drywall crew in to re apply safe drywall. Re texture and re paint.
 
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In recent years the apartment complex where I live has been renovating units. For popcorn ceilings they've been leaving the existing ceiling in place and installing a new layer of drywall to cover it up. For them, it's faster and cheaper than removing the popcorn texture.

They aren't doing because of the of the asbestos, but because tenants don't like popcorn ceilings anymore, so having the smooth ceiling makes it easier to rent out the units.
 
Mia333 said:
My roomate took small asbestos ceiling sample in his room, was scraping 20 min because it was harder, like a paint, didnt see any white dust, but when i rubbed the ceiling before i had white powder on my finger.

Is there lot of asbestos now? Is it safe to go there? (it has bed, carpet... where it could land) What could I do to make sure it is asbestos free as much as possible? Can I vacuum the carpet there?

Should he buy proper mask and special clothes while painting the small hole? Should he wet it before painting?

Also clothes and stuff were rubbing against this asbestos ceiling since its inside big closet. How to best safely clean the stuff? Do I need to hire asbestos cleaning company?

Also which mask and vacuum is good for asbestos?

Any advice appreciated!
Click to expand...
What is the plan for the ceiling? Are they tiles or a solid continuous surface? Is it painted? I’d call an expert in, depending on what you plan to do with it. My understanding is that if it is painted and UN disturbed, it is not an issue. I have not read through the entire thread.
 
Macky-Mac said:
... popcorn ceilings they've been leaving the existing ceiling in place and installing a new layer of drywall to cover it up. For them, it's faster and cheaper than removing the popcorn texture...
Click to expand...
after your done scraping the popcorn texture the existing remainig drywall is all damaged. Better to leave the texture in place, cover it up with new drywall. The process is not expensive compared to things.

to the OP:
remove the exposed clothing and put it in the dryer no heat cycle.
get a can of spray paint and repaint the small scraped area.
done
 
Just paint the ceiling with a thick paint, do a couple coats.

it is much easier to just contain it underneath paint vs removing it, which is very expensive if done professionally.
 
I would get someone in to check it and confirm whether it’s asbestos or not. You can’t mess about with that stuff. Even a tiny amount of exposure can kill you and indeed my mate lost his mum to asbestos linked cancer. She was a school teacher and pushing drawing pins into walls over her teaching career ultimately killed her a few decades too early.

It’s amazing how many things from the past contain it too. I lived in a house once when we had asbestos floor tiles! Mental.
 
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