Asbestos Abasement & Lead Removal
The rehabilitation and demolition of older homes and buildings often results in the discovery of asbestos, lead, and other toxic building materials. Lead was used extensively in paint until the late 1970s, and lead-based solder was used in the installation of plumbing through the mid-1980s. While the use of asbestos was phased out earlier than lead for many construction uses, asbestos is still used in some construction products to the present day (some current products that use asbestos include: vinyl floor tile, pipeline wraps, gaskets, and roofing).
Due to strict regulations set forth by the EPA and OSHA in order to ameliorate the health risks of inhabitants, employees, and construction works in affected areas, it’s imperative to employ the services of experienced and conscientious specialists in order to avoid potential personal or legal risks. Attempts to perform these on your own or with unlicensed or untrained personnel can lead to serious health risks, fines, property condemnation, and federal imprisonment.
Asbestos and lead abatement are extremely time intensive and delicate operations. Asbestos insulation and tile can tear and spread hazardous fibers through the air and contaminate surfaces in and around the work area, while using improper methods to remove lead paint can lead to the aersolization of paint particles, resulting in the inhalation and ingestion of lead.
We have decades of experience in the safe abatement of asbestos tile, insulation, and ducting, as well as the removal and disposal of lead paint and other hazardous lead-based materials.
Radon Testing and Mitigation
Radon is an elemental gas that’s impossible to detect without specialized equipment. It has no color, taste, or smell. How people often first notice that something is wrong is when they notice that they’ve had a persistent cough for months that they just can’t shake, or always feel tight-chested or out of breath. This is because radon is a radioactive gas formed by the breakdown of common radioactive elements found in varying quantities throughout the US. Breathing radon gas causes damage to the lungs over time, producing respiratory illnesses and symptoms. Eventually, radon exposure can lead to the development of lung cancer–in fact, radon is the second most common cause of lung cancer in the United States, and kills more than 20,000 Americans every year.
Household radon exposure usually occurs due to the buildup of radon gas in basements and crawl spaces that are proximate to soil under or around a home. Radon gas is heavier than air, sometimes resulting in pockets of very high concentration is these low spaces. This is why it’s important to have professional radon mitigation specialists periodically conduct tests in your home, especially if you’re in an area known for a higher incidence of radon.
Thankfully, radon gas breaks down very quickly, which means that rapid intervention by mitigation specialists will result in very rapid drops in radon levels, within only a matter of days. Typically, radon issues are solved by installing sub-slab ventilation systems, as well as air circulation systems in basement areas that vent basement air outdoors.