RestorationMaster
Lead and asbestos are commonly present in buildings constructed before the 1980s and often discovered after the building has suffered damage and needs water or fire damage restoration. Asbestos and lead often lead to health issues like organ damage and cancer, so abatement services are recommended immediately after they are discovered.
Our professionals will perform an assessment of the amount of asbestos and lead in the building and create a removal plan. We can handle a project of any size or complication and perform scaffolding, abatement, or insulation services as needed. RestorationMaster provides lead and asbestos removal services to homes and businesses in Magnolia, TX, and the surrounding areas.
Dangers of Asbestos
A common misconception about asbestos is that it is always dangerous in any form. In fact, asbestos is often present in building materials like floor tiles, ceiling tiles, shingles, and cabinet tops. Asbestos is only dangerous if the building materials are damaged and the asbestos inside crumbles and releases toxic fibers. Physical impact, water damage, and aging are all factors that increase the risk of friable asbestos in building materials.
Once asbestos has entered the human body and lodges into the lungs, it is unable to remove the asbestos fibers. The fibers will remain inside the body and likely cause damage, such as mesothelioma, lung cancer, and asbestosis.
To determine how susceptible you are to asbestos-related disease, consider the following factors:
- Amount of exposure: There is no safe amount of time to be exposed to asbestos, but frequent exposure increases your likelihood to develop health issues
- Age: Children and the elderly have much weaker immune systems than adults, leaving them susceptible to develop mesothelioma and other diseases
- Smoking habits: Cigarette smokers who are exposed to asbestos are more likely to develop lung cancer and other diseases than someone who doesn’t smoke
Minimize your exposure to asbestos to reduce your risk of developing asbestosis, mesothelioma, or another asbestos-related disease.
Dangers of Lead
Lead is dangerous because it emits particles that cause the body to absorb a high level of lead and create health issues. Blood, tissue, and bones absorb a large amount of lead and store it inside the body. Large amounts of lead in the body can lead to lead poisoning, which has the following symptoms:
- Memory loss
- Abdominal pain
- Irritability
- Fatigue
- Constipation
- Loss of appetite
- Headaches
Lead poisoning is often overlooked because its symptoms are commonly attributed to something else. Frequent exposure to lead may cause high blood pressure, brain and kidney disease, heart disease, infertility, anemia, and even death.
Pregnant women especially need to be careful of exposure to lead because it may harm their baby and cause a stillbirth or miscarriage. Lead poisoning symptoms present at lower levels in children, so they are often more affected than adults.
Lead exposure likely leads to cancer, according to the international Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).
Removal Process
According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), it is dangerous to be exposed to asbestos for any length of time, so the asbestos removal process should be performed by a professional with the proper protective equipment.
All materials and areas that contain asbestos should be considered dangerous and avoided. An inspector will assess the area for potential hazards and take samples of questionable materials for analysis. If asbestos is discovered on the property, our professionals will perform encapsulation or complete removal, otherwise known as abatement.
The materials that are affected by asbestos will be either encapsulated or completely removed if the damage is severe enough. Encapsulation is usually cheaper than removal, but encapsulation only covers the asbestos in a coat of sealant and does not remove it from the area.
Similarly to asbestos, the lead removal process should be performed by a professional and not the homeowner because of the possible dangers without the correct equipment. The first step of the removal process involves careful inspection of the damage by a lead professional. The inspection allows our technicians to determine the amount of lead contamination an create a report containing important information.
Our professionals will use the report to decide the best course of action for removing lead from your property. The abatement process begins once our professionals determine how to best remove lead and this process includes stripping, scraping, encapsulation, and replacing the lead paint.
Once the abatement process is complete, our inspector will assess the property a final time to determine if it is clean enough to pass the final inspection. If so, the inspector will issue a letter of compliance to confirm the building is “lead-safe.”
Contact Us
Our trained technicians have the experience and certification to remove lead and asbestos with industry-approved techniques. We will safely dispose of hazardous materials and protect your indoor property during the entire process. Call RestorationMaster at (281) 213-5553 for more information about our lead and asbestos services in Magnolia, TX.