If your home or business was built before 2000, you’ve likely wondered whether it contains asbestos. After all, even though we made it illegal to import blue and brown asbestos into New Zealand in 1984, we still used it until the 1990s and possibly even until 2000.

Asbestos-containing materials (ACM) might be the furthest thing from your mind, but they can certainly be thrown into the forefront when you’re exploring your renovation options. At this time, you might be curious about how to safely remove or remodel inside walls with the ever-present threat of asbestos.

Obtaining advice from an asbestos specialist can be crucial, and we’ve included some helpful tips to help you get started on this new (and safe) renovation journey.

 

Have Your Home Tested

While many materials are easily identified as ACM, such as Super Six roofing and some vinyl types, asbestos testing is the most effective method. This can often involve enlisting the services of a surveyor to take a small sample of material and send it to a lab for analysis and reporting. You can then learn where the asbestos is, how much there is, and its condition.

With this information, you can make an informed decision about what to do next. Some people decide to leave parts of their home as-is, such as walls and flooring, while others choose to hire professionals to remove or encapsulate it.

However, it’s not always easy to know whether asbestos testing is even necessary. Typically, it’s a good idea to go through with this process if:

 

• Your house or business was built before 2000

• You’ve found asbestos in other areas

• It looks like asbestos

• It’s written in your property records

 

What Do Walls With Asbestos Look Like?

Testing is the most effective way to confirm the presence of asbestos in your walls, but some wall materials stand out like a sore thumb. For example, insulating board brands like Asbestolux with amosite asbestos and calcium silicate are light to dark grey with medium-to-soft density. Their colouring and texture make it reasonably easy for experts to identify.

 

Hire the Experts

Asbestos is a deadly killer – and that’s no exaggeration. In 2016, environment minister Nick Smith said New Zealand had an appalling death toll, with 170 lives claimed yearly. However, that number is clearly rising, with WorkSafe saying it’s the leading work-related killer, resulting in 220 annual deaths.

Information like this should highlight the importance of hiring experts to remove asbestos from your walls and the rest of your home. In fact, the Health and Safety at Work (Asbestos) Regulations 2016 make it a legal requirement. If the asbestos in your home is friable or covers an area of more than 10m2, you must use a licensed asbestos removalist.

 

Prepare the Work Area

If you’ve decided to go ahead with removing or remodeling an inside wall containing asbestos, and it fits within the legal parameters of being able to do the work yourself, prepare the work area thoroughly.

This process involves:

• Clearing the area and surrounding area of people and pets

• Clearing the area of removable objects, such as furniture, curtains, and rugs

• Lining all surfaces, like floors, walls, and fixtures, with polyethylene film and strong adhesive tape

• Putting warning signs in place to keep people out of the area

• Fastening and seal windows and doors

• Turning off the electricity

• Covering electrical circuits, ventilation systems, and air conditioning units

• Wearing PPE, such as disposable coveralls with a hood, shoe coverings, gloves, and a respiratory mask

• Wetting the area with a low-pressure sprayer

• Not eating, drinking, or smoking in the area

• Using a vacuum cleaner with a HEPA filter and bag

 

Avoid Dust

ACM, in their standard, good-condition form, aren’t considered harmful. Instead, it’s the dust from broken or damaged ACM that poses the most significant risk. As a result, it’s essential to put measures in place to avoid dust while remodeling or removing an asbestos-containing wall.

 

• Use hand tools, not power tools

• Don’t sand the surface

• Wet materials when sanding and cutting

• Use detergent to soap ACM

• Use low-pressure water and a soft brush

• Clean up the area thoroughly

 

Remove Asbestos Sheets

Once your workspace is adequately prepared, and you understand the importance of PPE and minimising dust, you can now get to work removing asbestos sheets. Take some of these actions for a safe asbestos wall removal experience:

1.       Keep the asbestos sheets wet with a low-pressure water system

2.       Take the sheets off as intact as possible

3.       Lower sheets to the ground gently to limit dust and avoid breakage

4.       Stack sheets carefully

5.       Wrap the sheets in plastic

6.       Clean the area thoroughly

7.       Dispose of waste appropriately

Hire Licensed Asbestos Removalists

Removing or remodeling a home with asbestos can be dangerous, and there are no guarantees that you’ll follow all recommendations to the letter to keep yourself safe. If you want to ensure that your asbestos walls are removed safely, enlist the services of licensed and qualified asbestos removalists. They can handle all the hard work to make your home safer for you and your loved ones.