Whitey, Don’t remove the asbestos yourself.
Asbestos is a rock and the microscopic fibers are shaped like a spear. When inhaled the tiny spear sticks in the walls of the lungs and it remains in the lungs for as long as you live, festering and oozing with puss. Eventually turns to cancer.
Removing asbestos yourself is not only very dangerous to yourself but its dangerous to your family as well. You bring it into your home because its all over your cloths and as your wife wraps hers arms around you and gives you a big hug “POOF” the fibers become airborn. You take off your cloths and throw them in the hamper and “POOF” the fibers again become airborn. Your wife picks up your cloths to wash them and “POOF” the fibers again become airborn. Your baby crawls across the carpet and again the microscopic fibers become airborn and inhaled.
The fibers can only be seen with a very powerful microscope and they are soooo small that once they are airborn they stay airborn for 8+ hours or so. That is until your child crawls past and inhales it.
Removing asbestos yourself is not only dangerous but it is illegal to do so because of the above mentioned dangers. Asbestos must be removed by an abatement contractor, transported legally and dumped at an approved dump site. If you were caught removing asbestos illegally you could go to JAIL and pay for the very expensive cleanup plus heavy duty fines. You could have your 15 minutes of fame on the 6 o’clock news. It’s a felony.
Once in awhile we have a DEP agent climb up our ladder and ask for our asbestos analysis reports. They are required with any demolition project. I have every roof we do tested for asbstos content and if it is positive I hire and asbestos abatement contractor to remove the asbestos containg material. No way I want my workers bringing that crap home to their families.
Don’t let anyone tell you any different. It’s the LAW. It’s not a matter of getting away with something, but rather the health and well being of yourself and all the innocent and unsuspecting people that could become involved.
BTW I was looking for some pics of my dash that was on the site a few years ago and was doing a search on my name to find them. I came up with this thread and just had to comment. Know where I could find those pics?
I’m no roofer, but Tom seems to know what he is sayin’ here. A kid I grew up with works for an “asbestos abatement contractor”, and he tells me all the time how dangerous it is.
Be careful with this stuff, Whitey.