Asbestos Removal in Crystal

Crystal’s median home was built in 1959, the earliest of the three cities we serve. Whether you are finishing a basement, updating an electrical panel or clearing a lot, we test first, take out what the lab confirms and keep the state paperwork in order.

The 1950s alone account for 45 percent of Crystal’s homes, and more than 8 in every 10 predate 1980.

Request a free quote

A section of wall around an old electrical panel cut out, with plastic sheeting taped around the opening

Example project

Vermiculite removed from an attic before soft roof boards are replaced

Example project

Home: 1950s one-story house in Crystal with loose fill in the attic
Original request: Tear off the old shingles and replace the roof boards that feel soft underfoot
Testing: An MDH-certified inspector tests two materials: the loose attic fill and the felt under the shingles
Found: Asbestos in the vermiculite between the ceiling joists
Clear: No asbestos in the felt under the shingles
Area: About 1,000 sq ft of attic floor
Timeline: Five-day notice, then three working days
Cost: $9,500

In this example, a roofer looks at a 1950s house in Crystal and finds several roof boards that need to be replaced. Once those boards come off, dust and debris fall straight into the attic, and the attic floor is covered in loose, pebbly fill.

See the full example and more projects

Asbestos removal services

Testing

Your plans decide how far sampling goes. Redoing a room calls for testing only the materials the work will touch, but taking the house down calls for inspecting all of it. Book asbestos testing before anything else.

Old tile under carpet

Wall-to-wall carpet can sit on top of an earlier tile floor and its glue. Both go to the lab separately, and anything positive is lifted under floor tile and sheet vinyl removal.

Popcorn ceilings

Bedroom and living room ceilings with sprayed texture deserve a lab test. If it finds asbestos, popcorn ceiling removal takes the texture off.

Heating systems

Replacing an old furnace? Any wrap on its ducts and pipes, plus the furnace insulation itself, is handled under duct, furnace and pipe insulation removal.

Attics

Adding insulation? First look at the fill already on the attic floor. Granules in light brown, gray or gold could be vermiculite, which our vermiculite attic insulation removal page covers.

Walls, siding and teardowns

Our remodel and demolition abatement service clears confirmed asbestos before walls are opened, siding is replaced or the house comes down.

Crystal homes

Renters occupy fewer than 1 in 4 of Crystal’s occupied homes, and about 8 in 10 homes are one-unit homes. Roughly 1 in 10 predates 1950, while the 1960s added about a fifth of the housing.

What to sample in a 1950s house

MDH lists floor tile and mastic, popcorn texture, plaster, joint compound, furnace and pipe insulation and vermiculite among home materials that may contain asbestos. We sample the ones your plan will disturb.

Owner-occupied houses

An owner who lives in a single-family house is exempt from the license and the permit fee when doing asbestos work on that home. The exemption stops at that house, so it does not cover another property, and MDH still strongly recommends hiring a licensed contractor.

Census Reporter: Crystal housing Minnesota Department of Health: asbestos in homes Minnesota Statutes 326.72

Permits in Crystal

Crystal’s permits and inspections page says a permit is required when a building is demolished, but it has no asbestos wording. Ask the city how to apply, and have abatement finished at least two days before the demolition date, as MPCA requires.

County inspection

Crystal is a Hennepin County city, so county staff inspect homes and commercial buildings here before demolition. The inspector will look for disposal manifests, abatement receipts and the asbestos survey with its report, so keep them in one folder.

City of Crystal: permits and inspections MPCA: asbestos and demolition fact sheet Hennepin County: demolition waste

A 1960s living room with the carpet pulled back over 9-inch floor tiles and black adhesive

Frequently asked questions

How do I know if my floor tile has asbestos?

Only a lab can tell. An MDH-certified inspector samples the tile and the adhesive separately, and a result above 1 percent asbestos makes it asbestos-containing material.

Can I cover old floor tile instead?

Yes, as long as the tile is intact. MDH has no objection to laying the new floor on top. Once tile is breaking up or crumbling, MDH sees it as a concern, since the damaged material can release fibers.

What happens to the waste?

Our crew keeps it wet and packs it into leak-tight containers, each one labeled. A manifest goes with the load to a landfill that accepts asbestos. Hennepin County drop-off sites will not take it, so it never goes there.

What if asbestos turns up in the middle of the job?

Stop work in that area and call for a sample. Finding asbestos partway through a remodel is not an emergency in MDH’s eyes, so the five-day notice still applies before licensed removal.

In Brooklyn Center? See asbestos removal in Brooklyn Center, or the home page.

Request a free asbestos removal quote

We recommend calling, but do feel free to contact us using this form. We'll get back to you with a free, personalized quote or additional questions as soon as possible. We're here to help.

Call (763) 278-8232