Home Inspections

Home Inspections: Keeping Your Family Safe & Healthy

As a home owner, why would you be interested in having a lead paint or asbestos home inspection performed? One Source Environmental would like to clarify the real reasons why a home owner should be educated about lead paint and asbestos. Both lead paint and asbestos are dangerous materials, especially for small children and pregnant women. With proper detection from a home inspection, any dangerous materials found in your house can be swiftly dealt with.

Lead Paint Home Inspection

Because so many of America’s cities are older, many of the homes were built prior to 1978 and lead was routinely used in paint.  As well, asbestos was routinely used in household items like roof shingles, tile flooring adhesive, pipe wrapping, and some other items.

To protect against this risk, on April 22, 2008, the EPA issued a rule requiring the use of lead-safe practices and other actions aimed at preventing lead poisoning. Under the rule, beginning April 22, 2010, contractors performing renovation, repair and painting projects that disturb lead-based paint in homes built before 1978 must be certified and must follow specific work practices to prevent lead contamination.

Common renovation activities like sanding, cutting, and demolition can create hazardous lead dust and chips by disturbing lead-based paint, which can be harmful to adults and children.

One Source Environmental professional lead-based paint testing services start at $425 for a home at 1,000 total square feet. Our $425 basic lead paint test includes professional testing with one of our licensed, experienced Lead Risk Assessors or Inspectors, along with a comprehensive inspection report that will contain the lead-based paint findings from your home presented in language that you can understand.

Asbestos Home Inspection

One Source Environmental can assist clients with the identification, assessment, and management of asbestos. Our expertise, training, and up-to-date regulatory knowledge allows us to provide a total and comprehensive asbestos testing and consultation.  We will make sure that the inspection will include a total visual examination and the careful collection and lab analysis of samples. If asbestos is present, the report will provide a written evaluation describing its location and give recommendations for correction or prevention.

Until the 1970’s, many types of building products and insulation materials used in our homes contained asbestos. These items include resilient floor tiles, patching and joint compounds, textured ceilings, steam pipes, boilers, furnace ducts, door gaskets in furnaces and wood stoves, cement sheet, millboard, sound proofing or decorative material sprayed on walls.

When these products are disturbed, tiny asbestos fibers are released into the air.  When asbestos fibers are breathed in, they may get trapped in the lungs and remain there for a long time.  Over time, these fibers can accumulate and cause scarring and inflammation, which can affect breathing and lead to serious health problems.

A basic residential asbestos test with One Source Environmental costs $250 plus $15 per sample.  The number of samples taken from your home depends upon the materials and factors that our Asbestos Inspector uncovers.

For both asbestos testing and lead paint testing, please call Kathryn Hubicki at One Source Environmental at 704-376-3594 or email koh@gettheleadout.biz.  We can help give you simple peace of mind in knowing if your home contains lead paint or asbestos.

An Economical Way To Test Your Home For Asbestos

If you’re a homeowner and want to find out if your house contains asbestos, One Source Environmental provides an economical way to detect it, if you don’t want to invest in a full asbestos inspection.

  1. Bring a sample (no LESS than 2″ x 2″) of the material to be tested to our office at 3717 Latrobe Drive, Unit 760, Charlotte NC 28211.
  2. We will supply you with analytic results from our lab, which will identify the amount of asbestos found. This report will be emailed to you.
  3. The cost is $50 per layer analyzed by the lab. We will collect payment by credit card before we send the report to you. If you have any questions about this, please call us at 704.376.3594.