A man called us recently with a plan. His house in the Springfield area was built in the mid 1990s, he wanted to scrape the textured ceilings, and he asked whether he could just bring us a bag of the stuff and pay for the lab. He wanted to know what it costs and how long it takes. It is a fair question, and the honest answer has a few parts.
Yes, homeowners can send material to a lab, and sometimes that is all that is needed. The catch is that taking the sample is the risky step, not the testing. And some people who will see the result will not accept a sample you took yourself. Here is how to sort out which situation you are in.
A lab needs a small piece of the actual material, a label saying what it is and where it came from, and a clean container. It does not need much. The lab looks at the material under a microscope and reports whether asbestos fibers are present. That part is routine and fast. Where the sample came from matters just as much as the analysis: a bit of ceiling texture from the living room says nothing about the old pipe wrap in the basement.
To get a sample you have to break something. If the material does contain asbestos, breaking it is how fibers get into the air. Dry scraping, a cordless drill, or a putty knife on a dusty ceiling all release material, and the dust settles on furniture, in carpet and in the return air of the heating system. People who mean well make this mistake because the test itself seems harmless. It is the collecting that creates the exposure.
If you decide to do it yourself anyway, the basics are to turn off the heating and cooling so air is not moving, wet the spot lightly first, take as small a piece as will do, seal it in a bag, wipe the area with a damp cloth, and wash up. A single sample from a single spot is also thin evidence. Textures are often applied in different rooms at different times.
If the result is only for your own decision, such as whether to scrape a bedroom ceiling yourself or hire the job out, a careful homeowner sample can answer that. It is also fine if you simply want to know and have no one else to satisfy.
Several people on the other side of a deal may not take your word for how the sample was taken:
An accredited inspector takes the samples with wet methods, records the locations, keeps a chain of custody and sends them to a lab. The written report carries that paper trail. If a result may be shown to somebody else, it is usually cheaper to do it once and do it right.
A house from the mid 1990s is less likely to contain these materials than one from the 1960s, but we do not rule it out from the build year alone. Remodels, additions and old stock can mix older materials into newer houses. If you are about to scrape, sand or demolish something, a test is cheap compared to cleaning up a contaminated house. Our guide to popcorn ceilings and asbestos covers the ceiling question in more detail.
Pricing depends on how many samples and what the materials are, so we quote it by phone once we know. Our cost guide lays out what drives the number. Lab turnaround is usually a matter of days rather than weeks, and we will tell you what to expect when you call.
We do not run a drop-off counter and we cannot take a bag of material from the public at a window, so please do not mail or leave anything. Call (417) 409-1561 and tell us the year the house was built, what you want to do and who else will see the result. We will say which route fits, and if an inspector visit is the better choice, we will schedule it. See also residential asbestos testing.
Free quotes over the phone in minutes. Lab results in 2–3 business days.
Call (417) 409-1561