I found asbestos in my house. What do I do now?

Most of the calls we get on this start the same way: someone was pulling up lino, or scraping a ceiling, or opening a wall, and a contractor, a neighbour or a search result said the word. Sometimes the material is still sitting there untouched. Sometimes it is in pieces on the floor. The two situations need different first moves, so start with the right one.

First: is it disturbed, or just there?

Just there means intact — a textured ceiling, a floor tile, pipe wrap or an attic of loose insulation that nobody has cut, sanded, scraped or pulled. Alberta’s own asbestos manual is plain about this: asbestos has to be inhaled to do harm, and intact, undisturbed material presents no direct hazard. You have time. Skip to step 2.

Disturbed means it has been broken, scraped, drilled, sanded, swept or vacuumed, and there is dust or debris where people are. That is the situation the next four lines are for.

Step 1 — If it has been disturbed: stop, close, don’t clean

• Stop the work. Put the tools down where they are.
• Get everyone out of the room and close the door. Keep children and pets out of that part of the house.
• Turn off the furnace fan or any forced-air system serving the room, so it stops moving air through the rest of the house.
• Do not vacuum, sweep or wipe it up. A household or shop vacuum pushes the fibres through its filter and into the air; sweeping does the same with a broom. Leave the debris where it is.
• If you were in the dust: change out of those clothes at the door of the room, bag them, and shower. Don’t shake them out.
• Then call (403) 477-2281. We answer around the clock and will tell you within the hour whether this is a same-day visit or a booked one. Nothing about a short exposure can be undone, and nothing about it is helped by panic — the next hour is about not making it larger.

Step 2 — Find out what it is

Nobody can tell by looking, including us. What settles it is a sample to an accredited laboratory. A sampling visit is $225 in Calgary; one sample is a screening test for $310 all-in; three samples from different spots — the Alberta minimum for a room — is $480. Results take two to five business days, or 24 to 48 hours on rush. You can book a visit online, attach a photo, and we will confirm within the hour.

If the house was built before 1990, assume the answer could go either way. Popcorn ceilings, drywall joint compound, 9×9 floor tile and its black mastic, pipe and duct wrap, and vermiculite attic insulation are the usual suspects in Calgary housing of that era.

Step 3 — If the result is negative

You have a normal renovation. Keep the lab report with the house papers — the next buyer’s inspector will want it, and it saves testing the same ceiling twice.

Step 4 — If the result is positive, you have three options, not one

Leave it alone. If the material is intact and you are not renovating that area, leaving it undisturbed is a legitimate choice and a common one. Note where it is, don’t drill or sand it, and tell any tradesperson who works in the house.

Encapsulate it. Some materials can be sealed or covered rather than removed — a ceiling drywalled over, a pipe wrap encased. Cheaper than removal, and appropriate when the material is sound and will stay put.

Remove it. The right answer when the material is damaged, when the renovation has to go through it, or when you are selling and the buyer wants it gone. It is done under containment with negative air, by fit-tested labour, and it ends with an independent clearance test and a landfill weight ticket. Prices are on the pricing page, and the $225 visit fee comes off the removal contract if you go ahead within 90 days.

Step 5 — Write down what happened

Date, what was disturbed, for how long, who was in the room. Keep it with the lab report. If it happened at work, on a rental you own, or on a job site, Alberta OHS rules apply and you should call OHS at 1-866-415-8690 and confirm what is required of you — that is the actual authority, not a web page. If you rent, tell your landlord in writing.

What we won’t say

We won’t tell you a material is safe from a photo, and we won’t tell you it is dangerous to get a job. The lab decides what it is; you decide what to do about it; we give you the numbers to decide with. If it turns out to be nothing, you paid for a sample and a good night’s sleep. That is a fair trade.