Asbestos Questions, Answered

Usually, if the home was built before January 1, 2004. Oregon DEQ requires an accredited inspector's survey before renovation or demolition of commercial buildings and pre-2004 residential buildings. Owner-occupants doing their own renovation inside their single-unit home are exempt, though DEQ still recommends a survey.

If it was built before January 1, 2004, yes. The owner-occupant exemption doesn't apply to demolition.

Owner-occupants may legally remove asbestos inside their own single-unit home, but must follow Oregon's packaging and disposal rules. DEQ strongly recommends against DIY removal and recommends a DEQ-licensed contractor.

A DEQ-licensed asbestos abatement contractor, or an owner-occupant working inside their own single-unit home. Nonfriable materials can also be removed by CCB-licensed contractors and property owners, with DEQ notification.

DEQ lists sprayed-on textured or acoustical ceilings, including popcorn texture, as friable materials that may contain asbestos. A lab test of a sample is the only way to know whether yours does.

National cost guides put the average around $2,259 (Angi), with interior removal around $5 to $20 per square foot. Those are third-party national figures, not Oregon prices or our prices. Get written estimates.

To a DEQ-permitted disposal facility, double-bagged in 6-mil plastic and labeled, with an ASN-4 waste shipment form. DEQ's facility list includes Brown's Island Demolition Landfill in Salem. Call the facility before you go.

EPA says asbestos material that's in good condition and won't be disturbed is not likely to pose a health risk and is usually best left alone. The risk comes from disturbing it.

Use the Oregon CCB license search for the contractor's construction license, and DEQ's licensed asbestos abatement contractor list for friable work. Oregon contractors must show their CCB number in their ads.

If it isn't certified by DEQ or EPA, generally yes. Under OAR 340-262-0700, uncertified woodstoves and fireplace inserts must be removed and destroyed when a home is sold, and DEQ must be notified. The seller is responsible unless the buyer agrees in writing to take it on, in which case the buyer has 30 days after closing. Fireplaces, cookstoves, antique stoves, pellet stoves, masonry heaters, central wood-fired furnaces and saunas are exempt.

No. We're an information and referral service. We don't offer, bid on, schedule, supervise or perform asbestos or construction work, and we don't hold a CCB or DEQ license. We pass your request to one independent licensed professional, who gives you their own estimate and contract.

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