Vermiculite, house in Granby

Following small openings in the walls, the owner noted the presence of vermiculite which had probably been used as insulation for the peripheral walls of her property. The owner already knew when buying the house that vermiculite is present in the attic. However, she was unaware of his presence within the walls.

The question she asked herself is whether the vermiculite behind the walls is not in large quantities and comes from the attic or whether the walls were deliberately insulated with vermiculite. And in this case why the previous owner had not declared it as he did for the attic.

As with every mandate of this type, it is very likely that asbestos is in the vermiculite. Generally speaking, vermiculite that has been sold for years under the name Zonolite Attic Insulation is more likely to contain asbestos. This vermiculite mainly came from the Libby mine in Montana.

Our mandate was to carry out an inspection to verify whether:

- Vermiculite is used as wall insulation,

- The one in the attic is the same as the one in the walls,

- It contains asbestos or not

The inspection revealed the presence of asbestos in the vermiculite. The latter was found in large quantities in the walls and was used as insulation in a voluntary way.

The owner proceeded with her high-risk removal. The latter was recommended in order to protect the occupants of the property and the workers. All in accordance with the requirements of the regulations in force.

All our asbestos analyzes are carried out by laboratories recognized by the IRSST. They are made either by polarizing light microscopy according to the IRSST-244 method for friable materials or by transmission electron microscopy NYS ELAP 198.4 for non-friable materials.

For more information on asbestos testing

Contact us by email at info@air-conseilenvironnement.com or through our online form. For any emergency, leave us a detailed message at 514-294-4387.