In 1993, the German government decided to ban the use of asbestos as a building material (although such bans were not implemented in the US, wherein consumer products having less than 1 percent of asbestos continuous to be used). It goes without saying, however, that asbestos is still frequently found in houses built before this date, especially in houses built before 1985. In the past, asbestos was a cheap, solid, and insulating building material, so many people chose to use asbestos in their homes. Do you seek a means of checking whether asbestos has been used in your home? If this is the case, you must have an asbestos test carried out by a specialized company and then have the asbestos removed if necessary. We will be happy to give you an overview of the average costs.
What are the costs of asbestos testing and removal?
The cost of asbestos removal depends on how much asbestos needs to be removed. The removal of a single asbestos garage roof can start from $400. The removal and disposal of an asbestos double garage costs about $1500.
Four phases of asbestos testing and removal
Generally, asbestos can be tested on infrastructures in four phases, and then removed:
Identification of asbestos
The first step you should take is by hiring an asbestos expert. An asbestos expert will inspect your property and inform you how much of the hazardous material is present and whether you are at risk or not. This step is mandatory and provides you with important information. Identifying asbestos in your home will help you in the next two phases/steps.
Costs start at $65 for a basic testing for the presence of asbestos materials, but a more extensive examination can cost more than $270. The comprehensive examination will give you much more information that can be crucial to your health. After all, asbestos can cause several dangerous health problems, including lung cancer!
Asbestos encapsulation (option 1)
If you had decided to have a full investigation conducted on your property, the report might have offered you the option for asbestos encapsulation. Asbestos encapsulation does not remove the asbestos from your property. Rather, a protective adhesive is sprayed on the material. The encapsulation prevents harmful fibers from being released into the air, which means that you no longer run the risk of inhaling such particles and developing health problems.
The cost of encapsulating asbestos is about $10 per square meter.
Asbestos removal (option 2)
If your examination report does not recommend asbestos encapsulation, your only option will be to remove the asbestos.
The costs for the removal of asbestos is around $65 per square meter.
The costs for removing asbestos are higher than that for encapsulation. The removal of the material gives you the certainty that it is gone, and your money has been well spent. You no longer need to worry about the harmful material being moved about because it is no longer in your home. Removing the harmful material will increase the value of your home because people are not interested in buying houses that are known to contain asbestos.
There are many different factors which you must consider when estimating the cost of removing asbestos from your home. The factors to be considered are the location, the amount of asbestos to be removed and the amount of resources required. If asbestos is present in not easily accessible (hard-to-reach) areas, you will need to increase your budget.
Reintegration (optional)
When the removal of the asbestos material is complete, there are generally large areas of your home that need to be redecorated, boarded up, and finished.
The cost of re-cladding after asbestos removal starts at around $550+.
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