Does my co-workers house have asbestos?

February 13, 2008 4:36 PM

Does my co-worker's house have asbestos? My co-worker 's house has a popcorn ceiling. She wants to take the popcorn part off and paint, but she has been told that it might have asbestos in the popcorn. How can she find out if this is so? Is there a do it at home kit she can get. Her house in located in Yucca Valley, CA and was built in 1967.
posted by JAD'E to home & garden (10 comments total)

Is there a do it at home kit she can get.

Yes.
posted by dersins at 4:44 PM on February 13, 2008

Note these kits are not an at-home test. They are basically a self-collection kits you send out to a lab and the lab fee may be extra (and probably is for the $10 kits - read the small print). Your friend may be better off shopping around for lab tests and collecting her own sample. Advice on doing so here.
posted by nanojath at 4:48 PM on February 13, 2008

don't worry about the kit. we scraped a bit of popcorn into a ziploc baggie and stuffed the sample in the night depository at the testing agent, with a check for $35. money well spent. and yes, odds are good that the home has asbestos. although it was outlawed in the late 70s, contractors were allowed to use up what was still in their inventory.
posted by killy willy at 5:38 PM on February 13, 2008

If the ceiling does contain asbestos, it's not something to fool around with. From the site linked by nanojath:

If the material is identified as Asbestos Containing Material and it is in good condition, the APCD recommends leaving it alone. If the ACM is damaged, or if renovation, repair, or remodeling may disturb the material, you should hire a California state licensed asbestos abatement contractor to remove it in a safe and legal manner.

An asbestos removal contractor list is available through [your county's] APCD or the Contractors' State License Board or check in your telephone directory under "Asbestos Abatement and Removal Service."
posted by exphysicist345 at 6:59 PM on February 13, 2008

I can't imagine that there is any liklihood that the popcorn ceiling would have asbestos as opposed to the walls and roofing system. Popcorn ceilings (eww) are basically pneumatically sprayed joint compound (and/or plaster). There's no reason for fireproof ceilings if the walls aren't treated, if you get my point. I've never heard of asbestos popcorn, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
Worst case scenario, she lays some furring strips over it and drywalls/drop ceilings it and gains a thermal break and a prettier ceiling w/o having to rip off the god forsaken popcorn.
posted by TomMelee at 7:35 PM on February 13, 2008

easier to just put new drywall up rather than take the popcorn stuff off.

the thin, 3/8 stuff is fine, altho a bit floppy while putting it up.
posted by KenManiac at 7:38 PM on February 13, 2008

I had asbestos tested locally--same procedure killy willy describes. I don't remember how I found out about the lab. Maybe I called the city housing inspector.
posted by PatoPata at 7:38 PM on February 13, 2008

Previous thread on popcorn ceilings that I'm linking just to credit an interesting idea if it is asbestos: Cool Papa Bell's comment in that thread suggests wetting and pressing the popcorn to produce a kind of Venetian plaster effect. If she's up to try this, no need to test for asbestos, as she wouldn't have to scrape (in addition to which, scraping has a good chance of revealing an uneven ceiling, which is why popcorn texture is applied).
posted by middleclasstool at 8:13 PM on February 13, 2008

TomMelee: Sorry, you're wrong. Popcorn ceilings were noted for their high asbestos content. I did some research on asbestos and construction materials (since I'm considering buying a 70-year-old house), and was amazed to learn how long it's been in use.

Bluntly, either leave the stuff alone (because it is very, very likely to contain asbestos), or get it removed professionally. As exphysicist345 notes, if it's undamaged, it's usually safe to leave in place.
posted by liquado at 9:25 PM on February 13, 2008

Fair enough. That's weird though, because it gets its fire retardance from the tightly packed fibers. Whatever---furring strips + drywall or paneling = win.
posted by TomMelee at 9:39 AM on February 14, 2008