4 Signs You Need to Hire a Professional for Asbestos Removal

Home & Garden Blog

Asbestos was long used as a building material in Australia, and if you are working on an older home, you may encounter asbestos. Wondering if you can deal with it yourself or if you should call a professional? Here are some signs you should call in the pros.

1. You Aren't Sure Where the Asbestos Is

Asbestos was used in a number of building applications. It can be in old flooring, insulation or other parts of your home. When you start pulling up flooring, moving insulation or disturbing other areas with asbestos, the fibres may fly up into the air. At that point, they can be inhaled, which can ultimately lead to serious health problems.

If you don't know where the asbestos is or even whether or not it's in your home, you may want to contact the professionals. They can find signs of asbestos and advise you accordingly. Note that although asbestos was phased out beginning in the 1980s, it may be in homes that were built anytime before 2003.

2. You Don't Have Adequate Safety Gear

If you don't have adequate safety gear to work with asbestos, you may also want to call a professional. People can be affected by asbestos relatively quickly, and to avoid the fibres, you may want to wear a mask and a ventilator. In some cases, the cost of buying that equipment may even cost more than hiring an asbestos abatement professional.

3. You Don't Want to Deal With Disposal

Some landfills don't accept asbestos at all, and in other cases, landfills have restrictions on the amount of asbestos they accept. To figure out where to dispose of your asbestos, you may want the check out the website for the Environmental Protection Agency in your state or territory. If you are hiring a skip for the project, the hire company can also let you know if you can put asbestos in the bin. If you don't want to deal with researching disposal, you may also just want to turn the job over to the pros.

4. Professional Mediation Is Required by Law

In some cases, you may be legally required to hire an asbestos removal professional. For instance, if you are cleaning asbestos out of your office, you cannot have your employees do the work for you. That is against work health and safety codes. If you are doing work on a daycare or similar type of facility, you may need to show certification that the asbestos has been professionally mitigated.

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27 June 2017

Creating A Child-Friendly Outdoor Space

As the parent of five children, I've picked up some tips over the years when it comes to childproofing the garden and creating an outdoor space that's safe and can be enjoyed by everyone. I started focussing on safety in the garden after my first child had an accident that could have been prevented. Thankfully, they recovered pretty quickly, but I realised how easy it is for young children to get hurt when playing outdoors. I started this blog to share what I've learned as a parent, and topics I post about include creating safe swimming pools, identifying toxic garden plants, choosing child-safe gates and maintaining outdoor play equipment. I hope you find my blog interesting and useful.