Asbestos Removal
Vermiculite looks like small grey-brown or gold pebbles, light and slightly shiny, poured loose between attic joists or down inside walls. The EPA says the majority of vermiculite insulation sold in the US came from a mine near Libby, Montana, which operated until 1990 and whose ore was contaminated with asbestos. Much of it was sold under the Zonolite name. The EPA's advice is to assume vermiculite may contain asbestos and leave it alone. Removing it means sealing the attic, vacuuming the loose fill out with HEPA equipment and cleaning the joist bays it has settled into.
Vermiculite is a mineral that puffs up like popcorn when it is heated, and in that expanded form it was poured into attics and wall cavities as loose-fill insulation for decades. It looks like small, light, accordion-shaped pebbles, grey-brown to gold, with a slight shine. It is easy to tell apart from fibreglass, which comes in batts or fluffy loose fill, and from cellulose, which looks like shredded grey paper. If your attic floor looks like a layer of gravel that weighs almost nothing, it is probably vermiculite.
The concern is where it came from. The EPA says a mine near Libby, Montana, supplied the majority of the vermiculite insulation sold in the United States until it closed in 1990, and that the ore from that mine was contaminated with asbestos. Much of it was sold under the Zonolite brand. Because asbestos in vermiculite is not spread evenly through it, a sample that comes back clean does not prove the rest of the attic is clean, which is why the EPA's advice is to assume vermiculite may contain asbestos and not disturb it.
Vermiculite that is sealed above a ceiling and left alone is not doing much. Problems start when it is disturbed: someone stores boxes in the attic, an electrician pulls cable through it, or it sifts down through gaps around light fixtures and attic hatches into the rooms below. Until it is dealt with, keep the attic closed, avoid storing things up there, and do not let contractors work in it without knowing what it is. Do not try to vacuum it out with a shop vac.
The attic is isolated from the house below: the hatch and any openings are sealed, and the space is put under negative air with HEPA filtration. The loose fill is drawn out with a high-powered HEPA vacuum system into sealed bags, then the joist bays, top plates and any wall cavities it has drained into are cleaned by hand. Once the attic passes a clearance check it is ready for new insulation. Many people pair this with an upgrade, since the old fill was rarely deep enough anyway. If you also have textured ceilings below, it is often efficient to test and plan both together.
How long does it take? Most attics take one to three days, depending on how deep the fill is, how much headroom there is and whether it has worked down into the walls.
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Samples of the suspect material, analysed by a lab. You cannot tell asbestos by looking, and nobody should quote removal before the result is in.
Learn More →Sprayed acoustic ceiling texture from mid-century homes, tested first and scraped down wet under containment if it contains asbestos.
Learn More →An asbestos survey and removal ahead of a gut remodel, addition or teardown, so the permit is not held up and the crew is not cutting into it.
Learn More →Free · No obligation
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