kpoler started this discussion ·
Hi guys, has anyone had any issues with setting an xpole up on an asbestos ceiling? I want to put it up in our garage (drilled into an exposed beam) - does anyone who is using the ceiling mount know if it will shake/affect the ceiling at all/enough to get asbestos dust out? Thanks!!!
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Is this the concrete type asbestos that they use in benchtops and hoods? To my knowledge unless you house is really really really old you should not have any asbestos that is easily able to be broken apart. If you do then you have more issues than worrying about your XPole. If this is the fiberglass looking type asbestos then you should not be drilling into it in the first place and I would not install anything on it. Period. I would not even work out in that room.
I used to be an asbestos building inspector, so I have run into this before. Do you know for sure that the ceiling materials contain asbestos? If so, what is the material? One thing to remember about asbestos, if it's in good condition, it's typically not a hazard. It's when it get disturbed that it becomes hazardous. If you know it's asbestos, I would advise against disturbing the material by drilling into it. Drilling into the ceiling would constitute a disturbance, which would in fact, have the potential to release asbestos fibers. Houses do not have to be old to contain asbestos-containing building materials, especially friable ones. Due to stock piling, I have found asbestos in buildings that were built in 1996.
kpoler ·
It is definitely asbestos, been advised on many occasions! :( I wouldn't be drilling directly into the roof, just to an exposed beam which touches the roof - do you think the pole would shake enough to disturb the roof? Sidenote, how strong does a joist have to be to hold up an x pole??
OK, so not having seen your situation (some inspections legally require that the inspector touch the materials!), please know that I can only really provide general information. Roofing materials and ceiling materials are not the same. So, if I understand what you have said, the asbestos is present in the roofing materials, as in, the exterior? You would be screwing the polemount into an exposed wooden beam from the interior (and not all the way through the beam)? Just generally based off this information without having seen the actual situation firsthand, this does not sound like a problem. Typically, the exposed beam on the interior would not be in contact with the asbestos roofing materials, as the roofing is likely laid on a plywood decking, laid over the ceiling beams. There are many types of asbestos roofing materials, from the nicollete paper to roofing tar, so I cannot tell you any specifics, because I do not know about your particular roofing system. However, if you are permanently mounting a pole on a beam, there should be no movement of said beam at all. I would not think this situation, as I understand it, would be a problem for the roofing materials, assuming roofing and beam you want to use are in good shape, not leaking, rotten, falling in, etc.
kpoler ·
I completely understand, that makes a lot of sense to me, thank you very much!! On a completely different note, do you know how strong does a joist need to be to hold up at X-Pole on a normal ceiling? Do you need to test the joist at all or the fact that you found it with a stud finder mean that it would be strong enough to hold? (This is for going inside a house - not on an exposed beam - using the dome mount!)
You're welcome! Basically any ceiling joist should be fine. I always just find the joist the closest to the center of the room, mark it out with painter's tape, and ensure that that the dome mount is centered directly over that joist. I have only mounted poles in newer construction, wallboard type situations, so I have never had problems finding joists. Joists can be somewhat easy to find, and depending on the age of the house anywhere from 16 to 24 inches apart. Often the joists themselves are about 1.5 inches wide. Hope that helps.
Corby, I did not know that they were still installing asbestos containing material all the way into 1996!! I have only run into it in a laboratory environment and in my girlfriend's old house (the insulation on her furnace ducts in the basement). That messes with my mind and I have no words for how screwed up that is!
Well, when asbestos was made illegal in specific building products, it only made manufacturing those products illegal. So anything that was made prior to that mandate remained in use. Building materials get stockpiled, because like anything else, they don't get used if there was extra, or a project goes belly up prior to completion, and they don't typically go 'bad' etc. Those materials don't just disappear. They end up in a warehouse somewhere, and when someone wants to cut corners, they buy cheap surplus. Roofing materials can be a bit different. Going into any Lowe's or Home Depot, you can find asbestos in almost all the roof patch. Because its a sticky tar, it's damn near impossible to get the material friable. Plus, the percentage is also usually quite low. As long as it's intact, asbestos is really good for its intended uses, primarily insulation, surfacing materials like fireproofing, floor tiles, mastics, roofing materials etc. the list goes on and on. They even used to use asbestos in cigarette filters back in the day!
Haha, though I wouldn't think the filters were safe at all. Bottom line, most of us have probably lived in a house or gone to a school or other public building with asbestos in it. It's something that is good to be informed about, but also not freak out about unless the asbestos is damaged.
