How well are you acquainted with your attic and crawlspace? When was the last time you gave them a thorough look? Do you own a building that has been vacant for years?
Most property owners rarely think about their attics, crawl spaces, or other hidden areas until there’s a problem. Yet, these overlooked areas often contain the first signs of moisture intrusion, mold growth, asbestos-containing materials, structural deterioration, or other environmental hazards.
Leave it to Aegis to access and inspect those hard-to-reach, not-so-glamorous spaces. Our inspectors routinely enter attics, crawlspaces, and other confined areas to identify environmental conditions that may otherwise go unnoticed.
Residential Properties
While enjoying the living spaces of your home, it’s easy to forget about the other spaces you don’t normally spend time in. Crawl spaces and attics play a critical role in the structure and function of a home. They provide structural support and contain utility components, including heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment and ducts; plumbing; electrical lines; gas piping; moisture control systems; and more. While these spaces are generally efficient on their own, over time, they can be home to unexpected materials and conditions.
Homes built before approximately 1981 have a much greater chance of being built with asbestos-containing materials (ACMs). ACMs that are typically found in crawlspaces of older homes include corrugated paper or air-cell piping insulation, canvas-covered pipe insulations, paper duct tapes and wraps, gaskets, cement boards, and more. Attics can also contain these ACMs, as well as loose insulation types, such as vermiculite. As these materials age, they can become brittle and deteriorate. If disturbed during renovations, repairs, or even routine maintenance, asbestos fibers may become airborne and create an inhalation hazard.
Crawlspaces and attics are also typically not conditioned like the occupied living areas of a home. Lacking climate conditioning and ventilation, proper moisture controls, and leaks in these spaces often increase the risk of mold and fungal growth. Elevated moisture and mold growth can affect the structural integrity of these spaces and indoor air quality in your home’s living areas.
Other hazards that may be potentially hiding in your crawlspaces include poor indoor air quality and abandoned or leaking heating oil tanks. Members of the Aegis team have even seen lead-based paint in crawlspaces and attics, as well.
Commercial Properties
While not every commercial building has attics and crawl spaces, it still has less-visited areas that the typical occupant wouldn’t access. Because these areas are rarely accessed, maintenance issues can go unnoticed for years. These areas include plenums, spaces over dropped ceilings, tunnels, mechanical rooms, boiler rooms, and pipe chases.
These spaces often have similar hazards as residential crawl spaces and attics, such as ACMs, lead paint, moisture intrusion, and mold growth. These areas may also have more complex environmental hazards, such as confined spaces, oxygen-deficient atmospheres, and bulk chemical storage. Water intrusion, deteriorated ACMs, mold growth, and chemical storage hazards often remain hidden until renovations or emergency repairs expose them.
Sometimes, commercial buildings can remain abandoned or vacant for extended periods between ownership transfers. Vacant buildings usually have unconditioned climates and are unkempt, which can cause their interior conditions to change drastically over time. When a building’s interior conditions are neglected and unmaintained, moisture levels can rise, not only encouraging mold growth but also impacting the integrity of the building materials. Elevated moisture and the lack of general maintenance can cause building materials, including those containing asbestos, and paint, including lead paint, to deteriorate and create additional hazards within a structure.
Hidden environmental hazards rarely stay hidden forever. Whether you’re buying a property, planning renovations, investigating indoor air quality concerns, or seeking peace of mind, Aegis personnel have the right equipment, experience, training, and attitude to access hard-to-reach places and diagnose potential environmental issues.
Contact Aegis today to schedule an inspection of your home or commercial property.
Mya Smith
