Finding out that your commercial building tests positive for the presence of asbestos fibers can leave you in a quandary. You want to make sure that your Los Angeles County business is safe to enter and work inside, but a complete closure during removal is too much of a financial loss to absorb. Complete asbestos…
Finding an incredibly cheap deal with a fixer-up house can hold hidden dangers you might not have thought about. Asbestos, as harmful as it is, has been used in the construction of buildings before the 1980’s to add a cheap form of insulation and fire protection. Have any suspected areas of asbestos-containing materials tested and…
Asbestos has not been used in building materials for many years, due to the known adverse health effects, but it is still frequently found in older homes. You should contact a professional abatement service if you feel there may be asbestos present in the interior or exterior of your home. The only safe way to…
Human beings have a long history of using asbestos due to its properties of fire and heat resistance, and the Romans not only knew about asbestos but also knew something about the damaging effects it had on the health of people who mined it. While the use of asbestos materials is now banned for most…
During World War II, large numbers of women entered the construction industry to take up jobs vacated by men who went to war. In the decades after this Rosie the Riveter era ended, women working in any capacity in the construction industry became a rarity. This trend reversed again in the 1980s, and women once…
Soil can become contaminated by a variety of substances, but heavy metals are one of the more common types of soil contamination. Heavy metals are a group of naturally occurring metallic minerals including lead, arsenic, selenium, nickel, cadmium, copper, mercury, zinc, manganese, and chromium. Cleaning-Up Heavy Metal Contamination Heavy metal contamination can happen due to…
Oil spills are a common type of environmental disaster. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports an average of about 70 oil spill incidents each day, although most are relatively small compared to the occasional massive oil tanker disaster. Methods of Cleaning Up Oil Spill Disasters Each incident of an oil spill is unique and…
When asbestos is present in an older building, complete removal of the substance is not always the best solution for controlling the hazard. In some situations, encapsulating or encasing the asbestos inside another material is the safest and most cost-effective route to asbestos abatement. Encapsulation of Asbestos One positive fact about asbestos, and the reason…
Green building methods and materials are becoming more popular and widely used as concern about the environment increases. Using green building methods and materials is also popular because green buildings save money over time by reducing energy costs and also by sometimes qualifying the property owner for tax savings and other rebates. But what exactly…
The primary reason that mold grows anywhere is due to moisture. Without moisture mold and mildew cannot survive. Given the proper conditions found in a damp environment and mold colonies can grow quickly. Mold is also very adapted as an organism, and that resilience is one of the reasons that mold is so hard to…