Asbestos Inspection in Burlington

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It may be time to book an asbestos inspection in Burlington if you live in a house that’s close to or over 40 years old. Across Canada, asbestos was a hugely popular building material throughout the early part of the 20th century, and can be found around ducts, pipes, in flooring, and in insulation products. However, researchers realized in the late 1980s that the so-called ‘miracle mineral’ was actually harmful, linking exposure to asbestos dust to a number of respiratory illnesses and cancers.

Asbestos Inspection in Burlington | Inch by Inch InspectionsEnsuring asbestos free air in your home is part of a safe and healthy indoor environment. Using a third-party laboratory to assess any air samples, InchbyInch Inspections can provide you with impartial air quality results for your home during a pre-purchase inspection or before or during home renovations.

Having an asbestos inspection in Burlington can give you important information about the air quality in your home. As long as it isn’t disturbed, asbestos is relatively inert, but when it’s damaged or broken (such as during a renovation), the fine particulate dust it creates is easily breathed in an can get lodged in the lungs, where it will cause health trouble later in life.

Where Was Asbestos Used Indoors?

Materials with asbestos were so popular in part because they had amazing fire-resistant capabilities, and so asbestos has a potential to be found in every room of a home. With the passage of time, many of the smaller uses of asbestos are long gone, making any remaining products easier to spot and remove. We often locate asbestos products in:

  • The basement, attic, or cold cellars
  • Inside or around ductwork and piping
  • Underneath flooring
  • As a part of shingling or home siding
  • In popcorn-style ceiling, ceiling tiles, and drop ceilings

When asbestos products are located in these parts of your home, it’s important to have a professional team thoroughly examine and inspect each element. Any asbestos in your home can greatly reduce the indoor air safety of your entire building, and before any renovations or serious work, an asbestos inspection in Burlington is a must.

Health Risks Associated With Asbestos

Asbestos was first used in homes during the 1920s and 30s because it was superbly heat resistant and provided excellent insulation capabilities, and it is still in use in many parts of the developing world. Research beginning in the 1960s has linked asbestos to a wide range of cancers and lung diseases, such as:

  • Long term lung damage: Asbestos fibres (especially the kind known as chrysotile asbestos) are very small and very long, making them particularly easy to breathe in and become lodged in the lung and chest. Once inside, your body is unable to expel these fibres, and they irritate and inflame tissues, especially in the alveoli, the tiny air sacs at the end of the breathing passages of your lungs. This irritation causes scars and lung damage known as asbestosis, stiffening the usually pliable tissues of your lungs and making it hard to breathe.
  • Mesothelioma: More than 80% of mesothelioma diagnoses are directly linked to asbestos exposure, making aggressive lung and chest cancer one of the most concerning outcomes. Like asbestosis, the symptoms of mesothelioma include difficulty breathing, tiredness, and chest pain. However, as it takes 10-40 years to develop, mesothelioma is often difficult to predict. Long term survival rates for mesothelioma are very poor.
  • Lung and heart disease: Exposure to asbestos fibre is also known to put your lungs, heart, and abdominal cavity at risk for a number of other diseases, and can complicate and exacerbate other chronic conditions like asthma.

The Steps Towards an Asbestos Assessment

If you suspect asbestos in your home, the first thing to do is to call a professional for an asbestos inspection in Burlington. At InchbyInch, we treat asbestos as a biohazard, which means our inspections are safe, thorough, and that every precaution is taken to protect you and our teams during our visit. Asbestos inspection and removal is not a DIY project - specialized health and safety training is a must when asbestos is found in your home.

At InchbyInch, an asbestos inspection in Burlington begins with a visual inspection to determine what parts of your home may have asbestos products, and where we might need to do further asbestos testing. We may then use specialized tools and equipment to take samples of air and dust around your home to have a laboratory confirmation of asbestos presence. All of our samples are tested by a third party laboratory, a process that ensures our results are impartial and provides proof should you need it for negotiations or insurance purposes.

If any positive results are reported, we’re happy to help you understand the next steps and draw up a plan for abatement that suits your home and ensures a safe and healthy indoor environment for years to come.

What About a Modern Home - Is Asbestos Still in Use?

If your home was built after 1990, the likelihood is that there was little to no asbestos used in its construction, and very few Canadians are still exposed to it at work. But asbestos use isn’t completely banned in Canada - products made using asbestos, such as brake pad linings and some types of roofing shingles, are still made and sold here.

What Happens During an Asbestos Abatement

If we locate asbestos products in your home, the first priority at InchbyInch is the health and safety of your family and our abatement teams. We work under the strictest contemporary safety protocols in the industry to protect you during the entire removal process. All of our asbestos abatement teams are highly trained and work according to third party guidelines set out by organizations such as the International Society of Indoor Air Quality and Climate (ISIAQC) and the Institute of Inspection, Cleaning, and Restoration Certification (IICRC). Our membership in these organizations gives us access to the most up to date research available on asbestos removal, and provides a code of ethics and ongoing training for our technicians.

A typical asbestos removal by InchbyInch Inspections begins by marking and identifying any locations where there is asbestos in your home. We thoroughly contain the workspace to prevent any dust or debris created during abatement from spreading to other areas of your home, and use highly specialized air filtration devices to help scrub the air. Materials containing asbestos must be disposed of, according to provincial and municipal regulations, and we always thoroughly test and clean the site before we leave.

About InchbyInch

Asbestos contamination in Ontario is a serious problem and needs to be quickly addressed to keep you and your family safe and healthy. By choosing InchbyInch Inspections for your asbestos inspection in Burlington, your peace of mind is ensured - our highly trained specialists will inspect every inch of your home for asbestos products and can help you develop a plan for removal if any dangers are identified.

Our teams also train with the International Association of Home Inspectors, the world’s best professional association of home property inspectors, giving us access to research and insight accumulated from around the globe.

InchbyInch services locations around southern Ontario, including Burlington, Hamilton, and Oakville, and our professional, friendly teams are happy to tell you more about our services and what you can expect. Give us a call today for more information about asbestos inspection in Burlington!

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What Our Clients Say About Us

Hiring a construction contractor to renovate my house for the first time, I was not familiar with any of the DSS-related requirements.  So, it was quite reassuring to find someone like Tony who is trustworthy and knowledgeable. I also needed a quick turnaround for the completed DSS report and Tony delivered (on time, as promised).  In short, Tony was great to deal with. I would recommend him to anyone, anytime.   

Richard, Toronto

Tony did an excellent job with inspecting the house. He was very knowledgable in his field and thorough with his inspection. He carefully and patiently looked at both the exterior and interior of the building. He pointed out the deficiencies, what the risks are and how to rectify them. He answered all of our questions and made sure that we understood them. He offered his expertise and help if we needed.

Mandan, Toronto

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