Example Asbestos Removal Projects in DeSoto

Scope of work

A visit to the kitchen, five small samples taken with a mist of water at each spot, a lab report with each result and a note for the contractor that the kitchen can be opened as planned. A clear result means no asbestos work for those materials.

Project overview

In this example, the owners of a 1980s house in DeSoto plan a new kitchen with a new floor, new cabinets and a smoother ceiling. Most DeSoto homes are newer than the asbestos years, but a house from the 1980s can still hold older materials from a repair or a stockpile, so the owners ask for five samples before the contractor starts.

Every sample comes back clear. The report goes to the contractor, the kitchen is opened as planned and nothing more is spent on asbestos. A clear result is as useful as a positive one, because it ends the question for those materials.

The goal

The goal is a written answer before the work starts, and here the answer is that the kitchen can be opened as planned.

Process

1. Visit Kitchen walked; five spots sampled, each misted first.
2. Results A written report: all five clear.
3. Handover The report sent to the contractor.
4. Then The kitchen opened as planned.

Planning right

• Test what the work will touch: the floor, its glue, the ceiling and the walls.
• A clear result covers only the materials sampled. If the plan grows to another room, sample that room too.
• Ask for the written results, not only a phone call.
• Keep the report. A later owner or contractor may ask for it.

Scope of work

Samples from each of the four spaces, plastic on the floors and walls where the crew is working, fans and fixtures down, the texture soaked, scraped and bagged, then a HEPA clean of every space and the haul. The skim coat and paint are on the painter’s bid.

Project overview

In this example, the owners of a 1970s house in Duncanville ask a painter to repaint the ceilings. The painter will not sand or scrape the texture before it is tested, and the owners agree. A lab test of the living room, dining room, den and hall says the texture is positive.

Leaving sound texture alone and painting over it is a choice too, but these owners want smooth ceilings. The four spaces are done one after another, the texture soaked and scraped into bags, and the painter comes back after the last clean to skim coat and paint.

The goal

The goal is four smooth, bare ceilings, ready for a skim coat and paint.

Process

1. Painter’s bid The painter asks for a test before touching the texture.
2. Before work Texture sampled in four spaces; fans and fixtures taken down.
3. Removal One space at a time: sealed, soaked, scraped, bagged.
4. Handover HEPA clean, then the painter skim coats and paints.

Planning right

• Tell every trade about the result before they start. Sanding or scraping positive texture is what puts dust in the air.
• Sound texture that is left alone can stay. Removal is a choice about how the ceiling will look.
• Take fans and light fixtures down before the plastic goes up.
• Decide between a skim coat and new board before removal begins.

Scope of work

Samples of the tile and the glue, plastic over the doorway and the cabinets, an air filter running, the laminate bagged, the tile lifted wet, the black glue scraped off the slab wet, sealed bags, two HEPA cleans and the haul. The new floor is on the installer’s bid.

Project overview

In this example, a dishwasher leaks in a 1960s house in Lancaster and the laminate floor swells along the counter. The owners plan a new floor. When a corner of the laminate is lifted, 9-inch tile and black glue show underneath, and a lab test finds both positive.

The laminate is bagged first, then the tile is lifted wet and the glue scraped off the slab. The cabinets stay in place, so the edges along them are done by hand, and the floor installer starts on a clean slab.

The goal

The goal is a bare, clean slab in the kitchen, with the old tile and glue gone before the new floor goes in.

Process

1. Right away The swollen floor left alone; tile and glue sampled once a corner is lifted.
2. Setup Doorway and cabinets covered; an air filter switched on.
3. Removal Laminate bagged, tile lifted wet, glue scraped off the slab, the cabinet edges by hand.
4. Then Two HEPA cleans, then the new floor.

Planning right

• Once a leak is dealt with, look under a swollen floor before ordering the next one.
• Test the glue as well as the tile. Black glue can be the positive layer.
• Hand work along cabinets is slower. Ask how it is priced.
• Close the kitchen doorway and the nearest air register while work is under way.

Scope of work

Plastic and filtered air in each room being worked and over the stair, the ceiling texture soaked and scraped, the kitchen and laundry vinyl and its glue lifted wet, sealed bags, disposal records and a HEPA clean before the demolition crew comes. The survey was billed before this, and the demolition is a separate price.

Project overview

In this example, the owners of a 1970s two-story house in DeSoto plan to replace it with a one-story home for a parent. Demolition needs a city permit. A survey of the whole house finds asbestos in the ceiling texture of the living room, dining room and upstairs hall, and in the vinyl and glue in the kitchen and laundry room.

A single private house needs no state notice. The removal comes before the demolition anyway, and it is scheduled inside the hours the city sets for work near homes. The stair is sealed so nothing drifts between floors, and the demolition crew starts after the final clean.

The goal

The goal is a cleared house and a file of records, ready for the demolition crew.

Process

1. Survey Rooms, closets and attic sampled; 20 samples; a report that lists each material and where it is.
2. Scheduling Removal fitted inside the city’s hours for work near homes.
3. Removal Stair and rooms sealed; texture scraped wet; vinyl and glue lifted wet.
4. Handover Disposal records and a HEPA clean, then the demolition crew.

Planning right

• Ask Building Inspections for the permit steps before you set dates.
• Tell the neighbors the dates. The city limits the hours of work near homes.
• Seal the stair. A two-story house moves dust between floors.
• Ask the demolition contractor to hold off until the final clean.

Scope of work

The suite sealed in plastic with negative air while the other shops stay open, tile lifted wet, glue scraped off wet, waste bagged and labeled with its records, a HEPA clean and the air test ahead of the clinic’s contractor. The survey was a separate bill, and the owner is billed the state fee afterwards.

Project overview

In this example, a veterinary clinic leases a former shop in a 1970s retail strip in DeSoto and plans exam rooms, a small lab and a kennel area, all with new floors. The permit application asks whether a survey has been done, so the suite is surveyed first.

The vinyl tile and its black glue in the front room and the two back rooms are positive. The ceiling tile and the wall board are clear. Ten working days before removal begins, the owner files the state notice. The crew then works behind plastic with negative air while the other tenants carry on, and the clinic’s contractor begins once the air test is back.

The goal

The goal is bare, clean floors in the three rooms, cleared by the air test, ready for the clinic’s drains and new floors.

Process

1. Survey Floors, ceiling tile and walls sampled; the owner and the clinic both get the report.
2. Paperwork Survey noted on the permit application; the state notice filed.
3. Removal Three rooms sealed, tile lifted wet, glue scraped off wet.
4. Handover A final clean and the air test, then the clinic’s contractor starts.

Planning right

• Kennel and exam room drains mean cutting the slab, so tell the plumber what the report says.
• Note the survey on the permit application.
• Allow the 10 working days of notice before the clinic’s opening date.
• Hold the new floors until the air test result is in.