ASBESTOS ENCAPSULATION

You may have heard of crawl space encapsulation, where a home’s crawl space is covered in a protective coating to form a barrier between the home and the outside environment. Asbestos encapsulation is just the same, except instead of creating a barrier between the inside and outside of a home, coatings are used to seal hazardous asbestos fibers away behind durable layers of materials like polyurea, otherwise known as encapsulation. The idea is this: asbestos, when locked in place as part of a floor tile or building insulation, poses no health or safety risks. However, if the asbestos is disturbed, like through a bang on the wall or scrape against the floor, asbestos fibers can release into the air, where they’re easily inhaled and can cause multiple, potentially life-threatening diseases like mesothelioma. To prevent their escape and bodily infiltration, these fibers can be bound together and covered in place, where even frequent forceful impacts or harsh abrasion do nothing to contribute to the risk of exposure. Compared to asbestos abatement, or in other words, asbestos removal, encapsulation is quicker, easier, safer, and more cost-effective, making it the preferred choice for many homeowners.