Chimney Asbestos & Lead Abatement

Some chimney hazards can't be swept away — they have to be abated. Cement-asbestos (transite) flue pipe, asbestos millboard and firestop around old penetrations, and lead paint on a pre-1978 mantel or hearth all release dangerous fibers and dust the moment an ordinary repair disturbs them. Our crew handles these the only way acceptable for a design-led outfit: licensed abatement under full containment, with negative-air HEPA control, air-clearance testing, and the manifest documentation that proves the home is safe afterward.

The danger of asbestos transite is that it reads as harmless gray pipe. A typical contractor cuts it, breaks it, or pulls it during a reline and aerosolizes asbestos fibers into the home — an exposure the family may not feel for decades. We never disturb suspect transite or millboard with a standard crew. Instead we build poly containment around the work area, run negative-air HEPA scrubbers so no fibers escape, wet the material to suppress dust, and remove it as licensed abatement requires. After removal, air-clearance sampling verifies the space is clean before containment comes down, then the debris is bagged, manifested, and disposed of through a licensed waste stream.

Lead is the same discipline in a different material. Pre-1978 mantels, surrounds, and painted brick frequently carry lead paint, and grinding, stripping, or even heavy sanding without controls spreads lead dust through the house. We work to the EPA RRP rule: contain the area, use HEPA-equipped tools, and finish with clearance wipe sampling to confirm lead-dust levels are within limits before calling the area clean. For families with young children, this is not a corner anyone should cut.

What you're really buying in abatement is proof and protection. A cheap crew's 'we got rid of it' is worthless if fibers or dust got released in the process. Our deliverable is a documented, tested-clean result: the containment setup, the clearance air or wipe samples, and the disposal manifest — the package your insurer, a future buyer's inspector, and the AHJ will all require. Abatement comes before whatever repair or removal prompted it, and we sequence the work so you're not paying for a re-mobilization.