Many Albertans take the warm summer months as an opportunity to get some renovations done around the house. This makes a lot of sense. If you need the extra space to store materials, like drywall, that are being torn out or to cut wood, you’ll want to wait until it’s warm enough for you to take advantage of your backyard.
However, before you start tearing off the wallpaper and decide which wall to knock out, you’ll want to make sure you’ve met all the requirements for obtaining your demolition permit from the city. One of the most important criteria for obtaining your permit is working with a team like Amity Environmental to ensure there is no asbestos in the work area.
Asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral that has been used since antiquity, but during the early 1900s, it began to be used in thousands of different products and materials. Many of these products were used well into the 1980s, and even the 1990s and beyond. Which means many homes, especially older ones, are built with at least some asbestos-containing material. Usually this is fine. Undamaged asbestos-containing material is perfectly safe to be around. However, as soon as these materials are bent, cracked, degraded, or broken in anyway, they begin to release microscopic fibers into the air. These fibers are inhaled and become trapped in the lungs where they cause scarring and, eventually, cancer.
Unfortunately, because asbestos was used in so many products and is often an invisible component of the material, there is no way for people to tell if something contains asbestos just by looking. That’s why the Calgary municipal government has made asbestos testing mandatory. When you’ve decided on your project, you simply give our team a call. We’ll come take a tiny sample of all the materials that may be disturbed on your job site. We’ll run them at our lab, and let you know whether or not your worksite has asbestos-containing materials. If not, you’ll be able to get your work permit and start your project! If it does, we can work with you to schedule a convenient time for us to remove the asbestos before you start the project.
Summer is a great time to get renovations and house projects started, but don’t forget to get all your necessary inspections completed first. The experts at Amity Environmental can help you complete your asbestos inspection, and if you find mould half way through your project, we can help with that too. Contact our team today at 403-667-8264.
