You picked a new furnace and air conditioner, set an install date, and cleared the garage. Then the heating contractor went under the house for the measurements and came out saying the wrap on the old ducts looks like it could be asbestos. He would like you to find out before his crew touches it. If you are the homeowner on the other end of that conversation, here is how this usually plays out in a Springfield house.
Do not pull the wrap, tear a piece off to look at it, or vacuum the crumbs under the vent. Intact material is not the problem. Broken, rubbed or cut material is. If the wrap is hanging down or fraying, keep people and pets out of the crawl space and stay away from the return vent if it draws air from down there. Tell the heating company you are getting it tested so they hold the date loosely rather than cancel the job.
Older ducts were often covered with a white or gray paper-like wrap, sometimes corrugated, sometimes plaster-like at the joints and the elbows. Some of it contained asbestos and some did not. Looking at it does not settle the question. A lab does.
We go into the crawl space, or the basement if you have one, and take a small piece from the wrap with the material wetted down so it does not shed. The piece goes into a sealed bag and the cut spot gets sealed too. If the wrap is different in different runs, we sample each type, because a house can have two or three. It is a short visit. You do not need to be crawling around with us, and you do not need to clear the space beforehand beyond making sure we can get to the access door.
Samples go to an accredited lab and a written result comes back. Standard turnaround is a few days, and faster options may be available. When you call, tell us the install date and we will say what is realistic. The honest answer is that a quick test can protect the date, and a slow decision cannot.
The heating crew can proceed. Hand them a copy of the lab report so nobody has to wonder again.
That does not mean you have to leave the house. It means the wrap on the part of the duct being replaced cannot be handled by the heating crew. A licensed abatement contractor removes it first, then the installers come in. Removal is not our service, and we say so up front, because the people who test should not also be the ones selling the cleanup. We can explain the result, tell you what the abatement bid should cover, and answer questions about how the work should be contained. After the cleanup, our air testing and clearance can confirm the space is clean before the new equipment goes in.
If the ducts have this wrap, other materials from the same era may be worth a look. Our residential testing page lists what we sample, and if a remodel is coming after the furnace, the pre-renovation inspection covers the house in one visit.
Tell us how old the house is, what the installer said, and when the crew is booked. Call (417) 409-1561 and we will explain the visit and the timing before you commit to anything.
Free quotes over the phone in minutes. Lab results in 2–3 business days.
Call (417) 409-1561