I'm looking at the possibility of having to removed the old chimney liner and surrounding vermiculite. I'm not really sure of the best way to go about this and was looking for any pointers. I have searched google and this site and didn't find much. Thanks
removing vermiculite
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is it loose fill vermiculite or the mix that set up? is it light wall or heavy wall? What are you doing with the chimney after removing the liner?
If it is a comercial mix that should not be an issue if it is loose fill it could be but its unlikely but if you are concerned have it tested you should wear a respirator regardless,
Yes but when was it put in? By the time most ss liners were put in they knew about the problem and didn't use the contaminated stuff anymore. But like i said if it concerns you have it tested. Personally i just wear a good respirator bag every thing use our hepa vac and dont worry about it. And we would do all that regardless of concern about asbestos.
Vermiculite contains tremolite because of a unique mineralogical condition called twinning. This means that where the vermiculite was formed in the earths crust, you will also find tremolite. Tremolite is one of the six minerals that are considered "asbestos" and are regulated by EPA, OSHA, and most states. Removal of asbestos containing materials is regulated and contractors that perform removals are required to be licensed and trained to do the removal. Post removal air testing is also generally required.
Thanks for all the replies. I have heard about the asbestos issue, which is partly my concern with leaving it in place. The house was built in the 70's, no idea when the vermiculite was put in, but I would assume it is contaminated. Anyway, judging by what I can see from the top of the chimney, it looks like the hard mix. As far as light wall vs heavy wall, I assume you are talking about the chimney liner? The liner looks like some single wall stove pipe in the middle of the mix. My plan is to put in a 6 inch flexible liner as the old one is corroded. I would love to just leave the vermiculite in place and put the new liner down the middle, but I'm not sure if it's possible to removed the metal liner without damaging the vermiculite and I'm not sure how I feel leaving asbestos there if I know that's what it is. How do you test it to be sure?
sounds like it is rigid liner if so it will probably pull out pretty easily but your flex liner will be bigger and wont fit in the old hole. what we do in that case is first try with a stiff round 6" chimney brush lots of times that shaves enough off other times we have to get out the rotary cleaner
If the old pipe is 8 inch and the new liner is 6 inch, would it fit after being insulated with the blanket? Any concerns with leaving contaminated vermiculite in the chimney?
The top of the pipe has some screws protruding about a half inch into the pipe and I assume there are more down the rest of the way, so I'm not sure it will fit inside without getting totally thrashed. Plus the pipe is pretty corroded as there wasn't a chimney cap for who knows how long. Maybe the corroded pipe becomes irrelevant if I can drop a liner down the middle.
yes it would not matter any more, ok i remember you now with the screws poking in regardless of length i wouldn't try dropping a light wall liner heavy wall would be ok
Assuming there are nails all the way down the old pipe and it needs to be removed (not sure an insulated 6 inch rigid liner would fit inside with the nails), does it come out pretty easy just grabbing it with pliers and pulling on it? How about the middle section? It looks like an insulated 6 in liner would fit pretty well in the remaining hole.
some times they pull out easily some times they dont cant really say how it will go. f it separates hen you are pulling it out it will be fun that is why i hate pulling rigid we have had a few come apart when pulling them and it can turn into a nightmare
Tremollite just happens to be the worst kinda Asbestos.
If its from Libby then it's probably the nasty stuff.
Yes it can be nasty but the op said in previous post that some of the pipe is missing and the vermiculite is still holding its shape which means it is a mix which means it was probably made after they knew about the problem and were testing for it. Also allot of the mixes dont even contain any vermiculite but instead have penlite. Undrtow if it worries you get it tested but i doubt if it is mix that there will be an issue. If it was loose fill that would be a different story
look for local testing or removal companies. And eating it would do nothing to you it is only harmful if inhaled not that i think it is a good idea to eat it
You can do a search for companies that do testing. I sent some separate samples with a separate check to a company that was doing some testing for me at work. The mailed me the results within about 2 days.
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