Home inspectors in Huntington Beach often encounter asbestos in homes built prior to 1978. Typically they find it in attics during the home inspection, where the plumbing vents travel from bathrooms, kitchens, and wall heaters. As a Huntington Beach home inspector I look for asbestos on pipes, it is cement looking in color, a kind of light gray. Asbestos was also used as air ducting material in which case it may be wrapped in aluminum 'Reynolds Wrap' type covering. In this case you won't see the cement colored material because it is under the metal wrap. There are two ways you can describe asbestos for the purpose of home inspections; friable and Non-Friable. Friable means that it has been disturbed, i.e. drilled, cut, smashed, or torn. Non-Friable means that it is in its original state since it was installed.

What makes asbestos unhealthy is its composition? I've looked at it under a microscope and what distinguishes it is how fine its particles are. The small-ness of its particles allows it to lodge in your tissues once ingested and remain there. The ill health effects were originally associated with the manufacturing of asbestos products. When being worked it had to be cut, shaped, pressed etc. and in doing so exposed the workers to the fine particles. These workers developed mesothelioma and had breathing/ respiratory issues. Once trial lawyers got a hold of the issue they exploited it  'to the max', as it were.

Make sure that your Huntington Beach Home Inspector will look for this stuff in your attic. You can look at it and determine how likely it is that you will breath its particles or you can call an asbestos abatement specialist and ask him the question. He will likely recommend removing it at a cost of a few thousand dollars. Huntington Beach Home Inspectors must be certified to identify it. I usually know it when I see it but I can't say it so what I say is something like: 'vents in attic are possibly made of asbestos, I recommend consulting an asbestos remediation technician for an evaluation'. Asbestos is the type of issue that a Huntington Beach Home Inspection can reveal, and makes the cost of the home inspection well worth the money.

Good luck out there and call me the next time you need a home inspection in Huntington Beach or the surrounding areas. 949-322-3666