Painting Contractors' Page

Although paint doesn't contain asbestos normally, it does often associates with asbestos containing material. The following situations should be paid special attention to.

PAINTING OVER ASBESTOS

It is a common practice to paint over asbestos containing material to encapsulate it. Not to disturb asbestos and release it during the preparation and painting process is difficult task.

Because of this practice, surfaces under paint should be tested for asbestos whenever in doubt. In 2004, King Intermediate School in Hawaii closed two classroom buildings and a portable after asbestos was found in two classrooms during an exterior painting project, where asbestos was found under the old paint.

PAINT OVER ASBESTOS-CONTAINING TEXTURE

Prior to 1978, asbestos-containing texture material was produced and used as surfacing material on walls and ceilings, and finished with paint coatings. Because the texture material is so thin, it is practically impossible to the painting contractors to separate the paint from it. So it's very difficult to say the paint is negative for asbestos while the texture is hot.

The best thing to do under this kind of situation, is to treat the paint and the texture as one material.

PAINT OVER JOINT-COMPOUND

It's very often to find asbestos in drywall joint compound. If the joint compound contains asbestos, the laboratory analyst will conduct a composite test to see what's the overall percentage for the wall, and if it falls under 1% of asbestos, it is considered non-hazardous.

In taking this type of sample, it's important to locate the gap between the walls where the joint compound is applied. Make sure the paint, the joint compound and gypsum rock are intact, so that the analyst will be able to assess the composite percentage if the sample is positive for asbestos.

SILVER PAINT

Silver paint often contains asbestos in the range 2% to 7%.