Asbestos Testing in Niagara, ON

Niagara Home Inspector

Elementary Property Inspections offers Asbestos Testing across Niagara, St. Catharines, Welland, Fort Erie, Port Colborne, Fonthill, Grimsby, Stoney Creek.

Asbestos in Building Materials

Asbestos is a generic name for a group of naturally fibrous minerals. Until 1980’s asbestos fibres were widely used as insulating materials, in fireproofing, as structural additives in construction materials and in products for chemical resistance. Older buildings may have asbestos in pipe wrap, around ductwork, as insulation on an old boiler, in the vinyl floor tile, or linoleum underlay, in mortar and drywall compound, in siding, etc. Experience is helpful in identifying a suspect material, but it is not possible to determine by visual inspection alone whether the material will test positive for asbestos without laboratory confirmation. If a building material is suspect have a sample tested. If you are buying avoid surprises.

Asbestos in Vermiculite

To clarify, vermiculite is not asbestos. Vermiculite is a mica-like mineral with a unique property; it expands like popcorn when baked at high temperature. The loose fluffy material is ideal for insulating houses because it can be applied easily to fill in spaces. Vermiculite material was commonly used as attic insulation, but can be found in walls. Impurities of tremolite asbestos were found in some vermiculite insulation materials. Not all vermiculite insulations contain asbestos. The products excavated from Libby, Montana have been found to contain impurities of asbestos and were sold in Canadian and American housing markets. Samples of the bulk material can be analysed in our lab to determine if they contain asbestos.