Asbestos should not be a DIY job. Don’t tell that to my husband.

We knew we had encased asbestos around our pipes in the basement when we bought the house. We also saw that some of it had already been removed by the previous owner. Judging from everything else he did in this house, I’m sure he didn’t remove and dispose of it correctly.

Yesterday was project “Zoned Heating System” or something of that sort. This involved cutting into some pipes wrapped in asbestos. There wasn’t a lot of this nasty stuff left and my husband is Mr. Take A Chance when it comes to these things. So….did I mention you shouldn’t do this yourself?

Anyway, let’s say you’re as underdeveloped as my husband and decide to go DIY with asbestos removal. Here’s what he did:

1.  Mask for asbestos!

2. Hazmat suit! Wear that hood and put protection on your shoes. Don’t forget the gloves. Take this off should you leave the room and dispose of it afterward.

3. Rent a HEPA vacuum. All hubby did was get a HEPA filter for our shop vac and put a plastic bag around it to contain the dust flying out. Rent the vacuum.

4. Seal the room.

5. The asbestos should remain wet at all times while scraping and go directly into bag which will be sealed shortly after.

6. Asbestos must be properly disposed of. No, you cannot just throw it in your trash. Contact your local dump and see if they take it. Or call the DEC or EPA. In our case, we have some perks since Hubby works in the business. He has access to hazardous waste dumping at work.

I need to say this again to avoid any liability. You shouldn’t do this yourself. Hire a pro. We only had a few inches on a few pipes, so we took the chance. And again, my dimwitted husband works with OSHA all the time, so hopefully he knows what he’s doing.

Hopefully. Cough, cough.

Read up:

Asbestos Do-It-Yourself Abatement
DEC
Natural Handyman
EPA