The Project File: St. Charles Asbestos Removal from HVAC Duct Work
One of the hallmarks of older homes built around the Tri-Cities area of St. Charles, Geneva and Batavia is the use of asbestos products to wrap the heating and cooling ductwork.
Asbestos was used as a building material and insulation product from the 1920s until the early 1980s before the effects of exposure to asbestos fibers to humans was widely known. Asbestos was popular because it was cheap to use and that’s why we see so much of it. The potential danger, today, of asbestos covering ductwork that pushes air throughout your home, is staggering.
Exposure to asbestos becomes dangerous when the material breaks down and tiny fibers begin to permeate the air in a home and then breathed into the lungs. So, left undisturbed and intact, asbestos may not be hurting anyone. However, consider an older HVAC system that may have developed a leak and could be sucking in those fibers and forcing them throughout the home.
This is why we recommend the immediate removal of asbestos insulation from any HVAC system. And that’s just what we did recently to a home in St. Charles. View the before and after photos before for a visual idea of what we found and how we were able to remove the asbestos from around these HVAC ducts.
The HVAC Asbestos Removal Process
The first step in this HVAC asbestos removal project was to seal the area from the rest of the home with plastic 6mm sheeting. We then turned off the home’s HVAC system to prevent asbestos from spreading the rest of the home.
Next, our team installed our HEPA exhaust system, which was then vented outside through a sealed opening in the basement.
Our team dressed in our protective gear and began the process of carefully removing the asbestos insulation from around the HVAC ductwork. We placed all the asbestos-containing materials in wrapped and sealed double 6mm plastic bags.
Those plastic bags were then placed in sealed 55-gallon fiber drums for proper disposal per all governmental guidelines.
All HVAC ductwork was then HEPA vacuumed and wet wiped with amended water. Finally, clearance air sampling was done by an I.D.P.H. licensed air sampling professional and those samples were taken to an independent laboratory for analysis for the final all-clear.
About Asbestos Project Management
For nearly 30 years, our family-owned company headquartered in Plainfield has been serving Cook, DuPage, Lake, McHenry, Kane, Will, and Kendall counties. Our experience in the asbestos removal industry is so extensive that our founder Clyde Keller holds the twenty-first asbestos professional license ever issued by the Illinois Department of Public Health. We take great pride in the following:
- We respond 24 hours a day, seven days a week
- We are fully licensed and insured
- Our staff are trained and certified in OSHA, IEPA & IDPH
- Fast, knowledgeable and reliable service
If you suspect your older home was constructed using asbestos building materials, contact us today for a free estimate and asbestos testing.
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