I suspect the house has asbestos since it was made in 1969 and has popcorn ceilings. This is what I have found about asbestos

asbestosdiy-vs-pro

As the title says, my house was built in 1969 and has popcorn ceiling, so according to many readings on my research it's very likely that the ceiling and possibly other parts of the house has asbestos.

I read in this post that if the ceiling is painted, it would be harder for me to get rid of asbestos but also it would be safer for me since it would be less likely that asbestos can get released to the air. I'm honestly not sure if the ceiling was painted and I'm not sure if I can just tell by looking at it, I mean, it looks pretty white just like the walls but I'm not sure if it was painted before I moved to this house, since it has been 1 year since I moved in. I don't have a way to contact the previous owner so I'm not sure, but in case that they weren't painted, can I apply some kind of sealant instead of paint them?

I've seen that if the part of the house that contains asbestos isn't disturbed it doesn't poses a healthy hazard. By "disturb" I'm not sure if I for example If I kill a bug with a piece of paper and slam it agains the wall or the ceiling containing asbestos would pose a risk, or only if I really scrap the ceiling really hard, do any update, construction, etc. then particles really get into the air is only when I really should worry?

Would also be dangerous if I touch the ceiling with my hand and then I touch my food with those hands would that be dangerous? I ask that because I have little kids and they might do that, so then I would know I need to do something about that.

I'm not sure if the insulation in my attic might have asbestos, but given the year the house was built I suppose that might also have asbestos, in any case, I know I need to install more insulation in my house because my inspector told me that the current one is pretty thin, so the question here is, do I then need to hire a professional to install more insulation instead of doing it myself, which it can pose a high risk for me to breath asbestos when installing more insulation?

Also according to this answer in this post It can have a health risk if you breath it for a short period of time or for months or years. I mean some sources say that even if you breath it once, it might be super bad for you, so it's then hard to tell how bad is to breath asbestos if sources say for one second for months or years, so how bad really is? and does it depend on how much percentage of asbestos is in the ceiling?

Thank you so much in advance!

Best Answer

This is all speculation until you have the house and its surfaces tested.

Once you have those results you will have either:

  1. nothing to be concerned about,

  2. results to base subsequent decisions on.

Until you have the results then you won't be able to make firm decisions, so have it tested.