If you are moving into an old home, you are going to want to have it tested for asbestos before you move in, regardless of if the home has been tested before. Homes that were built in the early to mid-1900's often contain building products that had asbestos in them. In many homes, efforts have been made to remove these materials. However, before you move your family into an older home, it is important to always have the home tested.

Why to Have a Home Tested

The truth is that in an older home, there are so many materials in the homes that could have contained asbestos, it is always a good idea to double check and test the home before moving in. If there are still original building materials from the early 1990s up through the 70s or 80s, you'll want to have your home tested.

Asbestos, before it was found to be dangerous, was used in a wide variety of building materials. It could be found in insulation, furnace ducts, floor tiles, cement boards, door gaskets, texture paint, and joint compounds. It could even be found in shingles and siding. You want to have your old home tested so that you can identify any old building material that has asbestos in it. That way, you know the risks in your home before you move in.

Removing the Asbestos

If testing finds asbestos in your new old home, you are going to want to have the asbestos material removed before you move into your home. Asbestos carries very serious health risks, and you don't want to move into a home that has asbestos in it. When the asbestos has been identified, you want to then hire a certified contractor to remove the asbestos. Removing asbestos is a careful process, where the entire area is tented, and protective clothing and breathing gear is used to get rid of the material, which then has to be disposed of in a safe location.

Never hire an unlicensed contractor to remove asbestos in your home. It is a delicate process that requires commitment and precisions to complete to ensure that asbestos particles are not left behind in your home.

After the work is complete, have your home tested again to ensure that all of the asbestos has been removed. Only once you are confident that the asbestos has been removed should you move into the home. A home with asbestos is not uninhabitable; it just requires a little more work to get the home in proper shape for you move in.

For more information, contact your local asbestos testing service.