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Asbestos Transite Chimneys, Flues, & Pipes in Buildings MoldAPedia © Enter your search terms Submit search form   Search This Website - InspectAPedia.com

• Asbestos-containing transite chimneys
• Safety hazards associated with transite chimneys & flues
• How to recognize asbestos transite pipe in buildings

This page assists in the recognition of transite pipe used for chimneys or heating flues and discusses potential hazards of this material when it is found in buildings. Traniste pipe is an asbestos-cement product which was used for both HVAC ducts and for chimney or flue material to vent gas-fired appliances. In use as a gas-fired appliance chimney/vent transite pipe may have been classed as a type "B" flue vent which required 1" clearance from combustibles. We are looking for a citation to this effect--DF] Cement-asbestos transite pipe may also have been used for water piping in some communities. This is a chapter in our document assists building buyers, owners or inspectors who need to identify asbestos materials (or probable-asbestos) in buildings by simple visual inspection. We provide photographs and descriptive text of asbestos insulation and other asbestos-containing products to permit identification of definite, probable, or possible asbestos materials in buildings. While an expert lab test using polarized light microscopy may be needed to identify the specific type of asbestos fiber, or to identify the presence of asbestos in air or dust samples, many asbestos-containing building products not only are obvious and easy to recognize, but since there were not other look-alike products that were not asbestos, a visual identification of this material can be virtually a certainty in many cases. Also see Asbestos HVAC Ducts a field identification guide to visual detection of asbestos in and on heating and cooling system ducts and flue vents. Also see Micro-Photographs of Dust from the World Trade Center collapse following the 9/11/01 attack. Links to U.S. government and other authoritative research and advice are included.
© Copyright 2008 Daniel Friedman, All Rights Reserved. Information Accuracy & Bias Pledge is at below-left. Use the links at page left to navigate this document or to go to Other Website Topics. Green links at left show where you are in our document & website.

TRANSITE PIPE OR DUCT - Transite Chimney and Duct Material Warnings

Transite pipe, which contains significant percentage of asbestos fibers, was often used for heating ducts and on occasion heating and cooling ducts in older buildings. The transite pipe was used in a buried-in-slab construction methods which placed the transite piping below or in a building floor slab, and asbestos-containing transite pipe ducts were also used in exposed areas such as shown in the crawl space photographs above. [Photos of transite duct material courtesy of Thomas Hauswirth, a Connecticut home inspector.]

• Asbestos hazards of transite duct or chimney piping: Cementious duct material may contain asbestos. What is this "cement" duct work made of? Cement and asbestos fibers.
  How much asbestos is in Transite pipe? While it's cementious, transite ducts or even transite pipe used for heating flue vents is a potential asbestos hazard in buildings. Transite pipe typically contains about 15% to 25% asbestos fibers, typically fibrous chrysotile asbestos. A careful asbestos testing lab may report both fibrous and fragmented asbestos which can occur in still smaller pieces (thus more easily remaining airborne and increasing human exposure to asbestos). The balance will be cement and possibly other fibers or binders. If transite pipe is damaged or is cut mechanically (such as by using power equipment), friable, airborne asbestos fibers may be generated - a health and costly cleanup concern.

Incorrect spellings of transite piping or transite duct material that we've seen include transit pipe, transit ducts, transide pipe, transide ducts, and transight pipe. "Transite" is the correct spelling.

Other uses of asbestos in heating or cooling ducts besides transite pipe are illustrated at ASBESTOS HVAC DUCTS - Asbestos Materials On or In Heating and Cooling Duct Work

Continue reading in this article using direct links to the sections listed below, or

Use links at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website.

IDENTIFICATION of ASBESTOS in BUILDINGS
Asbestos Risk Assessment
Asbestos in Good Condition
Asbestos in Poor Condition
Incomplete, Amateur Removal
Abandoned Pipe Insulation
Asbestos Foamed-Over
Asbestos in unusual places
Asbestos Paper Duct Insulation
Transite Pipe Chimneys & Flues
Transite Pipe HVAC Ducts
Asbestos Fireproofing
Other Asbestos-Containing Materials
Ceiling Tiles Containing Asbestos
Floor Tiles Containing Asbestos
Vermiculite Insulation Containing Asbestos
Asbestos Under the Microscope
Asbestos-Free Insulation Materials
  Cellulose
  Mineral Wool/"Rock Wool"
  Cotton Insulating Batts
  Balsam Wool Batts
  Fiberglass Insulation

Technical Reviewers

Particular thanks are due to experts and also consumers who read these articles and suggest corrections, changes, and additions to the material. Content suggestions, technical corrections and content critique are invited for any of the content at our website.

• Daniel Friedman - principal author
• 3/07: thanks to Gary Randolph, Ounce of Prevention Home Inspection, LLC Buffalo, NY, for attentive reading and editing suggestions. Mr. Randolph can be reached in Buffalo, NY, at (716) 636-3865 or email: gary@ouncehome.com
• 06/07: thanks for photographs of transite asbestos heating ducts, courtesty of Thomas Hauswirth, Managing Member of Beacon Fine Home Inspections, LLC and (in 2007) Vice President, Connecticut Association of Home Inspectors Ph. 860-526-3355 Fax 860-526-2942 beaconinspections@sbcglobal.net
• 7/07: thanks to Roger Hankey & Cheryll Brown, www.hankeyandbrown.com, ASHI home inspectors in Minnesota, for the deteriorated transite pipe gas flue vent photograph and comments. Mr. Hankey is a past chairman of the ASHI Technical Committee, serves as co-chairmain of ASHI legislative committee, and has served in other ASHI professional and leadership roles.
• Technical reviewers are invited to comment or ask questions - contact us

More expert information on Asbestos Identification, Recognition, & Testing

More Information on Asbestos Contamination, Other Airborne Fiber Hazards, & Building Diagnostic Inspections and Repairs

• Asbestos: How to find and recognize asbestos in Buildings - visual inspection methods, list of common asbestos-containing materials
• Asbestos HVAC Ducts and Flues field identification photos and guide
• Fiberglass: Indoor Air Quality Investigations: Health Concerns About Airborne Fiberglass: Fiberglass in Indoor Air from HVAC ducts, and Building Insulation
• Enviro-Scare: Electric Power Lines, Electromagnetic Fields, Cancer Risk, & "Enviro-Scare" - The Normal Curve Cycle of Public Fear of Environmental Issues
• Dust from the World Trade Center collapse following the 9/11/01 attack: the lower floors of this building contained spray-on fire-proofing asbestos materials.
• Asbestos Information Links: Asbestos Detection, Testing, Recognition, Hazards, Field Photos, and Information Sources, including health-related links such as legal services and information about mesothelioma and other cancers.
• Asbestos Identification and Testing References
• Asbestos Identification, Walter C.McCrone, McCrone Research Institute, Chicago, IL.1987 ISBN 0-904962-11-3. Dr. McCrone literally "wrote the book" on asbestos identification procedures which formed the basis for current work by asbestos identification laboratories.
• Stanton, .F., et al., National Bureau of Standards Special Publication 506: 143-151
• Pott, F., Staub-Reinhalf Luft 38, 486-490 (1978) cited by McCrone

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