Durham’s building stock is unusually layered. Tobacco warehouses converted to mixed-use, craftsman bungalows in Trinity Park and Old West Durham, 1970s ranches and split-levels ringing the city, and a deep commercial inventory in the downtown loop and along Roxboro and Erwin Roads — every era brought its own asbestos products, and many properties carry several generations stacked on top of each other.
When a sample comes back positive, removal is no longer a renovation question — it is a regulated abatement project governed by NESHAP, OSHA 29 CFR 1926.1101, and 15A NCAC 19C. That is the work this page is about. Not testing, not encapsulation, not advice. The licensed, contained, manifested removal that follows confirmed identification.
Remtech has run abatements across the Research Triangle for over twenty years. Every Durham project leaves the site with a signed disposal manifest, daily air-monitoring logs, worker exposure records, and a written clearance report — the same documentation a lender, insurer, preservation board, or buyer’s inspector will ask for six months later.
Three things consistently happen when asbestos work is handled outside the regulated framework.
Trinity Park, Old North Durham, and Cleveland-Holloway homes regularly carry three or four eras of asbestos product stacked on each other — original plaster keyed onto wood lath, mid-century vinyl tile over heart pine, popcorn texture sprayed in the 70s, and pipe insulation in every basement. A DIY scrape disturbs all of it at once and contaminates the entire envelope.
North Carolina law restricts regulated abatement to NC DHHS-licensed contractors, and improper disposal carries NESHAP fines that climb into the tens of thousands per violation. Commercial buyers in Durham’s tobacco-warehouse and downtown rehab market — and the lenders behind them — require documented, manifested removal before closing. An undocumented job kills the deal and the schedule.
Asbestosis, lung cancer, and mesothelioma carry latency periods of twenty to fifty years. Family members and tenants inhaling fibers off contaminated work clothes or a shared HVAC system carry the same long-term risk. There is no safe lower threshold for friable-fiber exposure, which is why every step of regulated removal is engineered around containment and verified clearance.
Every Durham project moves through these five phases. We don’t skip the documentation, we don’t cut the containment, and we don’t leave site without third-party clearance.
An NC-accredited inspector documents every asbestos-containing material in the work area, square footage is calculated, and a written abatement design is produced. We file the 10-working-day NESHAP notification with NC Division of Air Quality and pull any City of Durham, Durham County, or Orange County demolition permits before suspect material is touched.
Two layers of 6-mil polyethylene seal walls and floors. HVAC penetrations are isolated and locked out — particularly on Durham’s older commercial blocks where shared mechanical chases run between tenant spaces. A three-stage decontamination unit is built at the only authorized entry point. HEPA-filtered negative-air machines establish at least -0.02 inches of water column, verified with smoke testing before any disturbance begins.
Workers in full-face PAPRs and Tyvek saturate the material with amended water to suppress fiber release, then remove it in manageable sections — never sanded, never power-tooled. Material goes immediately into double 6-mil labeled bags. Personal exposure samples run throughout the shift to verify the OSHA PEL of 0.1 f/cc is held.
Bagged waste leaves the Durham site under a signed chain-of-custody manifest and is delivered to a permitted Subtitle D landfill. The signed return manifest goes into your project file alongside daily air-monitoring logs and worker exposure records — the documentation insurers, lenders, and inspectors will ask for after the work is long done.
An independent third-party industrial hygienist performs aggressive-sampling clearance using leaf blowers and fans to dislodge any settled fibers. Samples are read by phase contrast microscopy — or TEM where children, schools, or research labs are involved. Re-occupancy is authorized only after readings come back below 0.01 f/cc and the written clearance report is in your hands.
Real reviews from homeowners and contractors across North Carolina.
“We bought a new to us 1964 home last December and to no surprise, we had asbestos popcorn ceilings. We decided to remove the ceilings altogether versus just scraping them. To complicate things even more, we had a plumbing leak in a room that had previously been encapsulated, so we had to deal with insurance to cover a portion of the asbestos removal. Rusty and the whole team at Remtech were such a help from the first moment we spoke! They were responsive, flexible, and knowledgeable. They helped us get insurance what they needed. They even worked with us to do the removal work while we had to be out of town. Asbestos removal and dealing with insurance, especially as we were brand new to the home, was incredibly stressful. Working with Remtech was the opposite – they were helpful and easy to work with that I barely had to think about the work being done. It was a nice break for my brain! They also did a great job. We came home to a CLEAN house with no ceilings! While I’m hoping we never have to go through such a big project again, I know we’d be able to handle it because we can rely on Remtech.”
“Very fast, professional and responsive. Did floor asbestos abatement for our house for a very reasonable price and they were very quick to schedule to keep us within our very close timeline.”
“As a General Contractor specializing in Bathroom & Kitchen remodel, we complete in excess of 250 bathroom upgrades each year. Regardless of our remodeling and construction experience and capabilities, when it comes to addressing the unforeseen hazardous and environmental conditions posed by mold, asbestos, and lead paints, we have a responsibility to our customers to partner with the best abatement specialist possible, and as proficient in abatement as we are kitchen and bath remodeling. Remtech has proven to be that reliable and trusted partner for both our customers and company. We highly recommend the Remtech Team.”
“A few months ago I used Remtech Envir. to remove asbestos from the ceiling of my home, and to this day I’m still amazed with their service that I’ve been meaning to write a review, and today’s the day! The whole process went through so smoothly because of their professionalism, punctuality and care. At the end of each day I received an update from Rusty who was the project manager which was super helpful, and because of their expertise I knew the job was getting done correctly. There was a lot of asbestos to remove, and they showed up and delivered hard work to get it done within the time frame that was initially discussed. So grateful we used their services! I would highly recommend!”
“Our church basement flooded and the old asbestos tiles curled up and had to be removed. Jeff Brewer came over to look at our problem, explained what they would do. He furnished a quote very quickly with a fair price. After checking with two other companies, Jeff’s instructive conversation, ease of manner, willingness to help and a fair price won him the work. As a former contractor, I know how backed up companies can be in their schedule. He told us of a target time about 4-6 weeks off, which was fine. He called a couple of weeks later and had an opening in his schedule and wanted to come earlier. That was great. Their staff arrived on time and delivered a very quick, professional and clean project. This allowed us to get our Fellowship Hall floored and back in operating condition prior to the start of the school year. It is a pleasure to work with a company that communicates well and delivers their service in a superior way.”
“I have spoken with Bryan on many occasions about growth strategy. He has always been open to communicate. I look forward to future conversations.”
“Remtech came in and did a removal of asbestos when our home developed a leak and the sheetrock ceiling had to be removed. Got right to work, kept us informed every step of the way and did a great job of cleaning up. Would use them again in a heart beat!!”
“The cost was higher than expected, so I did not move forward at that time. I will use Remtech when I am ready to have the work done. They are very professional and take the time to answer any questions. The rep arrived on time, explained the process and provided the estimate. A very positive experience.”
Inspection, lab analysis, and remediation are all handled in-house. That keeps the chain of custody tight, the timeline shorter, and the cost predictable.
Most of these come up on the first phone call. Short answers below — the long answers, tailored to your property and timeline, are a conversation.
Yes. Once containment is built and negative pressure is established, the work area is sealed off and the immediate space outside it is treated as a regulated buffer. For Durham residential popcorn-ceiling or vinyl-tile abatements, occupants are out for two to four working days. For Durham commercial work — tobacco warehouse rehabs, downtown renovations — the affected zone is sealed and adjacent tenants stay operational. Re-occupancy only happens after written third-party clearance.
Trinity Park, Old North Durham, and the Cleveland-Holloway / Walltown corridors all carry historic preservation overlays. We coordinate scope with the homeowner’s preservation review where required, document layered ACM era by era, and stage extraction so original plaster, heart-pine flooring, or salvageable trim is preserved. The regulated containment and clearance standards stay identical.
North Carolina regulates the trade through the NC DHHS Asbestos Hazard Management Program. Removal of regulated ACM from any structure other than an owner-occupied single-family home must be performed by a licensed abatement contractor, supervised by an accredited supervisor, and executed by AHERA-trained workers. Remtech holds all three credentials and renews them annually.
Encapsulation seals non-friable, intact ACM with a bonding agent so fibers cannot release. Enclosure builds an airtight barrier around it. Removal physically takes the material out. Encapsulation can be appropriate for stable materials in spaces that will not be disturbed — but any planned renovation, demolition, or sale where the buyer’s inspector flags the ACM typically forces a removal.
Final clearance demonstrates the post-abatement environment has airborne fiber concentrations below 0.01 f/cc by phase contrast microscopy — the reoccupancy threshold defined by AHERA and adopted by NC DHHS. Aggressive sampling with leaf blowers and fans deliberately tries to lift any settled fibers before sampling, so a passing result means the cleanup itself held up under stress, not just under still-air conditions.
Send us the lab report or the inspection findings — or call before any of that, if you’re still trying to figure out whether your popcorn ceiling, vinyl tile, or pipe wrap is regulated. We quote in writing and we don’t pressure.
Tell us what the lab found, when the renovation or sale is happening, and where the property is. We’ll come look, scope it honestly, and quote it in writing.