Weeks ago, I used coupon to have my air ducts cleaned. The guy just coming in and check my furnace and said it is dirty and would cause fire. I needed to purchase a life time air cleaner for thousand of dollars. I did not plan to do that right away. Then he checked the ceiling of the air duct and said my house had illegal asbestos on the ceiling. He can help me to clean up with thousand of dollars. He also said I should not buy this house. I know asbestos is harmful. I felt he tried to sell me something to make it up because the service from the coupon is too cheap. I did not feel comfortable of what he said. He said he had to report to City for having asbestos. Up to date, I did not receive any removal notice from city. I doubt there is asbestos in the ceiling. Is anyone can tell me how to identify asbestos?
In general the recommendation is that any asbestos containing materials be LEFT IN PLACE unless they are crumbling or need to remove them for repairs/remodeling.
If your city has a consumer protection department I would report him. If not at least the the BBB..
The only way to be 100% sure that a material contains asbestos is to submit a sample to an asbestos laboratory for analysis. This is also a good way to prove a material does not contain asbestos.
Just looking at the material will not help.
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