Does Popcorn Ceiling Have Asbestos

Does Popcorn Ceiling Have Asbestos – How to Identify

Last Updated: 2022-02-16By Steven H.

Popcorn ceiling is the most common place to find particles of asbestos in residential and commercial properties. Houses that were built or renovated between 1945 and 1975 have the highest chance of asbestos being present in popcorn ceiling.

We cannot say that every construction and renovation completed during those years automatically had designated substances like asbestos, but the likelihood is very high simply because this material was widely used.

Nowadays many home owners are aware of all dangers of designated and banned substances. Remodel On Point wanted to discuss more the topic of asbestos and teach our readers if all popcorn ceiling has asbestos in it.

Keep in mind our article is strictly educational and we do not encourage or suggest testing for asbestos and removing popcorn ceiling on your own. This work is highly dangerous and should be performed only by licensed professionals.

Does Popcorn Ceiling Have Asbestos? – Ways to Find

Always assume the worst when with asbestos. Even slightest amounts of it in construction are dangerous to humans and can cause serious lung disease. There is only one way to find out for sure existence of asbestos, but several more ways to predict it.

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Lab Testing – Truly reliable and suggested way to figure out if you have asbestos in popcorn ceiling. You can purchase a kit with instructions how to take samples. All samples must be labeled and sent to local lab for analysis. There local companies that can do that provide services in sampling for small charge. We suggest doing up 3-5 samples in different room for accurate analysis.

Approximate Year of Construction – Certain years of construction have more chance of having asbestos. It started in mid 1940s as a primary material and was banned in 1973. Does popcorn ceiling have asbestos if it was installed after 1980s? Probably not, but we still need to protect ourselves and test sample of it in laboratory.

Experience – Constantly working in asbestos abatement as a professional gives ability to spot it from a mile. Licensed contractors that do this for many years can tell you right away if there is likelihood of asbestos present, and should always work only with provided lab test results.

What Does Asbestos Look Like in Popcorn Ceiling

To non-professional all popcorn ceilings may look the same. There is no direct distinguishing from other micro fibers that are mixed into compound to finish drywall or plaster surface.

Popcorn ceiling was invented in early 20s century to differentiate from traditional smooth surfaces and to ease up the work. Also with popcorn ceiling you would never tell if ceiling surface was uneven. It literally hides all deficiencies.

It looks like bumpy ceiling with attached small pieces of rocks and painted on top. There is no actual popcorn look. Fibers are mixed with compound and paint for application. With special tools the mix is blasted on ceiling and left to dry up.

The asbestos particles cannot be spotted by naked eye. They are too tiny to differentiate from other particles like horse hair (used before asbestos era) or polystyrene.

Why Would You Need to Know if Asbestos is Present?

There are several reasons for which home owners need to find out does popcorn ceiling have asbestos? We urge all commercial building and residential house owners to test popcorn ceiling for designated substance. You need to know if there is an issue or it could cause one in future. Here are three major reasons for which you should take immediate action:

Renovation and Upgrades – Asbestos in all sorts of construction/demolition is serious business. It can hang there for many years without harming people, but when broken down in pieces airborne particles end get inhaled. Only professionals with appropriate licensing and experience allowed remediating asbestos and leaving rest of house for other renovation crews to continue work.

Affecting Health – Although everyone says popcorn ceiling with asbestos does not cause any harm if not disturb, it deteriorates after several decades from installation. Small or even large pieces may crack and fall down causing asbestos fibers get in the air and possibly in your lungs. Even tiny portion of asbestos exposure can lead to serious illness.

Reselling Value – Potential buyers need to know if there is asbestos in the house they are thinking of purchasing. It could scare them off. More and more people are aware of asbestos heath affects when disturbed. It’s definitely better to remove all popcorn ceiling before selling the house or be upfront with purchaser about its existence.

Why Was Asbestos Used In Popcorn Ceiling

During mid 20 century asbestos was very popular in construction. It was added and used in many materials and served different purposes. New ideas and methods were tested across the world and asbestos became one of those materials that was used almost everywhere.

Too bad no one could understand long-term health affects until it was too late and thousands of people died from it.

One of the main reasons why it was used in popcorn ceiling as a mix and finishing product is strength. Asbestos fibers are tiny but very strong in combination with other materials. Finish became as hard as concrete.

Somewhere water resistant and fire safety barrier material was also very popular as sound insulator. Main living area and second floor bedrooms were often required to be soundproofed.

This material was easy to obtain from minerals and it was extremely cheap. In peak years worldwide production of asbestos was almost 5 million metric tons per year. Construction in US was consuming and using 15% – 20% of that number.

Statistics and Chance of Having Asbestos in Popcorn Ceiling

To get better understanding of how often nowadays banned material was used and does popcorn ceiling have asbestos in your house we wanted to provide some statistics.

Homes built or renovated between 1940 and 1970 have 93% likelihood of having asbestos in their popcorn ceiling.

Popcorn ceiling that was finished between 1975 and 1995 has 12% chance of having asbestos.

Homes built after 2000 with popcorn ceiling feature have less than 1% chance of having asbestos present.

This material has been banned for many decades and the idea is to remediate it completely form all standing structures. Every year in US several hundred million dollars are spend for asbestos remediation from popcorn ceiling and other construction materials during demolition.

Kits and Labs that Contractors Use to Identify Asbestos

Hiring company to find does popcorn ceiling have asbestos is the most popular and easy way to go, but there are alternatives. These days every home owner can purchase a sample kit and mail or deliver it personally to the lab for testing.

There are several benefits to doing it by yourself rather than putting everything in hands of company that you don’t know.

Scheduling is one of the issues. You may not be available during their openings or clockwise. With samples kits there is not specific timing, just do it whenever you have time and send it by mail.

Trust is next on our list. We always want to put good faith in contractors and probably 99% of companies are fair, but there will be those who can excaudate with amount of asbestos to take on more expensive remediation project. With third party laboratory there will be no issues ever.

On top of everything you may save few hundred dollars with these sample kits.

Here are top 3 sample kits to find if popcorn ceiling has asbestos:

Our Suggestion if Your Popcorn Ceiling Has Asbestos

Designated or prohibited substances are regulated and banned for specific reasons. They are extremely dangerous to people.

Popcorn ceilings with asbestos are suggested to be removed from all homes and commercial buildings. Prior testing and professional remediation is mandatory.

It will take a small portion of money to remove asbestos, but increase property value and make the home owners worry less about health hazards.

For information on who can help with analysis and removal, you can contact our team by email. Remodel On Point has worked with and suggested popcorn asbestos removal companies to home owners who plan renovations.

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Each building has some sort of driveway or at least should have. The main reason is for vehicles to come closer without need to walk all the way. Some homes are residential with small driveway for their car to come in and park before garage or front entrance, and others can be large commercial buildings with loading docks, delivery entrances and casual parking entrances. On Point Remodeling was asked for suggestions on residential driveway for new home construction, and we decided to write detailed article for all our readers. Using this guide you can select the material for your driveway and see what works for your budget. Here are the materials for driveway we will be discussing in our guide:

Asphalt
Concrete
Paver Stone
Crushed stone
Brick
Seashell
Gravel

To find good contractor for your driveway, you can either ask our team by email or try to find someone local that worked with neighbors or nearby buildings.

Installation process of any material surface on your driveway

a) Demolition and Excavation – Before anything is done, your contractor will get heavy machinery and scratch off old layer of driveway. They need to go down at least 5-6 inches to insure proper layering before your final layer of material is installed. b) Material Purchase and Delivery – At this point your contract is signed and you already know how the surface will look. Contracting company purchases necessary materials and delivers them to site. Double check if material is correct and not damaged. c) Preparation of Sublevel – Whatever you place as final material, it cannot just be installed directly on top soil. Gravel is the first choice of material that goes down at this stage. Other preferred material is screen sand that can go on top of gravel and works better with stone and bricks. d) Compaction of Ground – To prevent your driveway from moving and changing shapes, all the layers from bottom up have to be properly compacted. Do not leave any spot untouched while doing this or you can get small holes and cracks in driveway after installation. E) Final Installation – This is when all the magic happens. After all preparations and dirty work the final installation is made literally within hours and you can enjoy new driveway. Stone and brick is set up by hand, while other materials require some sort of machinery with manual labor to even out surface.

1. Asphalt

Probably the most used material for road top surfaces as well as driveways is asphalt. This is a mix of gravel and sand that is mixed in and combined by asphalt cement with crude oil. Pros of Asphalt Driveway

Very popular and easy to find materials/contractor
Completed in 1 day and you can drive on it after
Patches and small holes can be fixed fast

Cons of Asphalt Driveway

Easy to damage and cracks appear in few years
Almost everyone else has same surface
Oily surface and chemicals used in mix

Prepared for asphalt driveway will cost you around $5 per square foot to finish. The contractors that take care of entire process from taking out old driveway surface, install subsurface and compact the ground with new asphalt on top, will charge on average $5500 per regular size driveway at single home property.

2. Concrete

What we call concrete is a mixture of Portland cement, aggregate as well as sand with gravel. Suggested thickness of concrete for driveway is 6 inches. The mixture needs to cure without being touched or driven on top for several days. Pros of Concrete Driveway

Durable material for large weights
Long lifespan if installed properly
Winter and summer friendly

Cons of Concrete Driveway

Has marks and stains over time
Hard to repair without replacement
Super hard to DIY

To hire contractors for concrete driveway it will cost around $7-$9 per square foot. This will include site preparation with gravel spread and new concrete installation. They will order full truck of concrete (or several for larger driveways) to pour inside forming. Smoothening and curing is required after installation.

3. Paver Stone

The most luxurious material that you can use to create driveway path with is paver stone. It is made out of natural stone with uneven rough shapes that have different line patterns. Paver stones are very heavy and are perfect for weights on top of them. Almost every city in Europe has roads and walks made out of stone that were installed centuries ago. Pros of Paver Stone Driveway

Creative designs can be done
Personal looks, can match the house
Can replace single stone in minutes

Cons of Paver Stone Driveway

Weeds growing through
Stone can move over time
Most expensive material

There is wide selection of stone that can be purchased for your driveway. On average we recommend settling with $17-$20 per square foot for stone with installation included. Working with this material is very intense labor and we recommend hiring professionals that do this type of work every day.

4. Crushed Stone

Our readers sometimes mistake crushed stone with gravel, but this is not the same material. Crushed stone material is achieved when machine is mechanically crushing larger pieces of unused stone for this specific purpose. It is larger than gravel and can have smooth finish. Crushed stone can also have a mix of colors, which is much pleasant to eyes than gravel. Pros of Crushed Stone Driveway

Low maintenance required
Fits rural area style
Can be reused for other purposes

Cons of Crushed Stone Driveway

Gets very hot during summer
Can be messy after many drives
Hard to remove snow and ice

Buying crushed stone and installing it on your driveway is as easy as it gets. Similar to other rough materials discussed in this post, only small tools like shovels, dolly and buckets are required to spread it on the road. The cost of crushed stone driveway is between $4 and $6 per square foot from professional local contractors that can finish the job in several days.

5. Brick

The same brick we see being used in wall construction can be installed as top driveway surface. Brick is manufactured by compressing clay with plastic mass. It is heated to extreme temperature and dried up to become as solid as you know it. Pros of Brick Driveway

Variety of selections in shapes and shades
Bricks are recyclable
Slip resistant with rough top part

Cons of Brick Driveway

Needs regular maintenance
Change color over time
Old fashion looking

Installing brick on driveway costs $10 per square foot, which is not too far from masonry brick laying as part of the wall. To save money you can use or purchase old brick, that was part of a wall before. Do not mix these two jobs and contact landscaping professionals instead of masonry contractors that work with bricks.

6. Seashell

This material is popular on the coast line where shells can be found near the water. Construction companies use seashells to add in other materials as well as spread them on driveway in rough condition, without adding anything else. It usually comes in white or pearl color and darkens within year because of mixing with sand and dirt. Pros of Seashell Driveway

Environmentally friendly
Has natural drainage
Creates worm vibe of beach house

Cons of Seashell Driveway

Break and crack under light weight
Sharp and very hard to walk on
Gets stuck in shoes and tires

To deliver and spread seashells on driveways costs below $4, which is only slightly more expensive than rough gravel. As you go further from coast line, cost of material increases due to delivery. This material is elegant and very soft. We recommend adding edge lines with darker color landscape material to create visual path.

7. Gravel

This material is used in other construction mixes and underlayment systems. It’s literally fragments and small crushed stones that are put on top of soil. It is easily spread out by hands and anyone can do it. Pros of Gravel Driveway

Cheapest of them all
Easy DIY Job
Can install another material on top

Cons of Gravel Driveway

Needs to be graded very often
Will mix with dirt and leaves
Washes up with heavy rains

It is rough material and can be purchased in bulk (by metric tons or cubic meters). The cost of driveway with gravel should not exceed $3 per square foot, but you can save tons of money by purchasing materials and doings installation by yourself. You do not require specific tools or heavy equipment for the job and delivery of gravel can be arranged directly to your project.

Conclusion

To properly finish any and all of these driveways requires skills and experience. There is no way you can complete any of these projects without heavy equipment and tools that regular home owner’s just store in their garages. Most of those who will read this post will prefer to install asphalt driveway, because of its popularity and low costs. We want to encourage home owners to go for personal preference and what matches your house, rather than getting the most affordable and popular items. Driveway jobs have to be completed fast; otherwise you will need to park elsewhere while the project is running. To not overpay, ask us for quotation sample on material you prefer in specific region where the work need to be done and our team can provide some numbers.

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