How To Safely Remove Vermiculite Insulation

Vermiculite Insulation: DIY Safe Asbestos Removal

Vermiculite is a mineral that was once all the rage in edifice insulation. With a minimum of a one-half-percent of asbestos, upward to 10%, it was considered a perfect fireproofing cloth. Simply now that nosotros know the damage asbestos has on our lungs, removing this undesirable building material has go common practice. Vermiculite was however actively used equally insulation in home building all the fashion upwardly to 1990, then it'south worth getting to know the substance and how to remove information technology.

Over 70% of the vermiculite used in America came from one mine in Montana. That same mine was rich in asbestos which was processed at the aforementioned facility. You lot'll know information technology's vermiculite if it looks like tiny little stones all forth your attic floor or in the walls.

Test The Vermiculite

This is the extreme edge of construction or deconstruction for the homeowner. You must examination the content of this fabric offset earlier you piece of work with it. If it tests above one-percent asbestos, it is time to call in the professionals.

If it tests below 1-percent, and none of information technology ever tests below half-a-pct, and so you as a homeowner can remove it yourself. Annihilation to a higher place 1%, call in a professional immediately.

How To Remove Vermiculite Yourself

There are few absolutes before we go started. You lot must wear a full-face cartridge-style mask. A standard dust mask or N95 won't do the job. Get one that looks like it came off a World War I battlefield after a poison gas attack. If vermiculite gets in your lungs it cannot be removed.

Adjacent, be sure to never work with dry vermiculite. You should moisten information technology before you begin, and add together a mist of h2o constantly equally you begin to remove layers of it. Simply think, if you tried to sweep up dust it flies into the air. Just mopping it up ensures it stays put and is easy to remove.

A large store vacuum works best in attics. Line the shop vac with heavy-gauge plastic bags and starting time sucking up the vermiculite. Each bag should be deeply closed, taken to a storage area, and labeled. You'll need to call your local landfill to run into the regulations on vermiculite transportation and storage. Most will accept it if information technology is nether the i-percent asbestos threshold.

Your best friend every bit the vermiculite spills, and it volition, is a scoop shovel and a soft broom. Sweeping with a heavy bristled broom only increases the vermiculite (and asbestos) dust in the air, something yous must avoid.

Removing From A Wall Vs. Roof

When it's out of the roof, yous can supervene upon it with blow-in fiberglass insulation, or bats of fiberglass insulation in pre-cut widths.

Walls are another story. If the vermiculate is packed within a wall, you can oft drill a hole between each set up of studs at the bottom of the wall on the outside with a hole saw. Nigh of the vermiculate will fall out of the hole and directly into buckets or bags if you're careful. A store vac shoved into the hole takes care of the balance. You tin fill the wall back upwardly with cream insulation, merely that usually requires a professional person, with professional-grade equipment.

Disposing of Vermiculite

Once it's all been removed, you'll need to transport it to a sanctioned landfill. Many landfills require you to transport it within a covered trailer with heavy plastic numberless properly labeled and sealed.

This is a job you tin do yourself, just it'south usually done by professional asbestos abatement crews, and it is not inexpensive. Y'all may be able to recover some of your expenses with an application to the Zonolite Attic Insulation Trust. Zonolite is the visitor that produced this stuff originally. The trust will pay up to 55 percent of the removal cost with a maximum payment of $4,125. You lot can learn more about the program at zonoliteatticinsulation.com

At the end of the 24-hour interval, make sure you lot stay safe and remove this harmful substance if you find it.