I’m doing some demo in a part of my attic found this in the walls and in a part of the attic. The house was built in 1920 and it seems that previous owners did some insulation upgrades. Is the the dreaded asbestos??
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there was asbestos in fiberglass, the black stuff is probablly a mixture of dirt and very possibly soot. Just cause its dirty doesnt mean its asbestos. Asbestos was added to many materials, floor tiles, adhesives, plaster, fiberglass, duct tape...the list goes on.
When in doubt and not willing to spend the money to have it tested, treat it as asbestos containing material.
Looks like fiberglass,but it could be rock wool. If it's fiberglass it mostly just dirty.
Modern fiberglass is fairly soft, whereas rock wool contains larger fibers and is fairly stiff and a bit "crunchy". On close inspection the fibers of rock wool are irregular in diameter, with blobs here and there, while fiberglass fibers are fairly uniform. Fiberglass is a light pink or tan color (when not diirty) whereas rocvk wool is a dark tan/brown. But older fiberglass tended towards the feel/appearance of rock wool, so it's hard to say defintiviely.
Both rock wool and older fiberglass are rumored to have sometimes contained small amounts of asbestos, but I'm guessing the amounts (if they were present at all) were miniscule.
If you are really worried about it you can get the stuff tested by an "industrial hygenist". But in a 1920s house I'd be more worried about the pipes and wiring.
i have never done to much leg work with the amounts of asbestos in fiberglass but i do know that there are large enough amounts in it (the old asbestos containing fiberglass) to put a building over the threshold of requiring asbestos remediation even when no other asbestos is found...current comercial space we are remodeling is the latest case for me.
tests are cheap...
When I got our circa 1928 (with a 1976 major addition) house, I combed the place and sent of about 20 samples (I used Western Analytical). Really quick turnaround, emailed me results, and best of all, when I sent tile samples, they included notes that warned that the cutback/adhesive also had asbestos. I think I spent about $180 over three batches. Figured the tile had it, but I also sent some drywall samples and insulation (thankfully that did not have asbestos--the tile (intact and glued til kingdom come) all got covered over with hardwood).