Absolute Asbestos owner Corey Packwood was recently featured on KGMI's Whatcom Report with host Mary Kay Robinson, where the conversation focused on the asbestos, mold, and other hazardous substances quietly hiding in older homes across Bellingham, Whatcom County, and the wider Pacific Northwest.
If you missed the segment live on the air, you can listen to the full episode at My Bellingham Now: Whatcom Report 3/3/2025. We've recapped the most important takeaways below, with extra context for homeowners in Bellingham, Ferndale, Lynden, Blaine, and the surrounding Whatcom communities.
Why This Conversation Matters for Bellingham Homeowners
A huge share of Bellingham's housing stock — from the early-1900s craftsmans of the Lettered Streets and historic Fairhaven, to mid-century ramblers in Sehome, Columbia, and South Hill — was built before modern environmental health standards existed. Asbestos was a routine building material until the early 1980s, lead paint was the residential standard until 1978, and our wet, mild marine climate makes mold a year-round threat. If you live in a home built before 1990, this conversation almost certainly applies to your property.
Asbestos in Bellingham Homes — The Highlights
Corey explained how asbestos was prized for decades because it was cheap, fire-resistant, and extremely durable. That's why it shows up in popcorn ceiling texture, 9-by-9-inch vinyl floor tiles, drywall joint compound, pipe and duct insulation, transite siding, roofing felts, and vermiculite attic insulation throughout Whatcom County. Most homeowners can't tell asbestos-containing materials apart from modern, asbestos-free versions just by looking — which is exactly why professional sampling and lab testing exist.
The danger isn't intact, undisturbed asbestos. It's what happens when homeowners or general contractors start cutting, sanding, scraping, or demolishing materials without first knowing what's in them. Once fibers go airborne, they can stay suspended for hours and lodge in lung tissue, where the long-term consequences — mesothelioma, asbestosis, asbestos-related lung cancer — can take decades to surface.
Mold and Our Wet Pacific Northwest Climate
Mary Kay also pressed Corey on mold, which is one of the most common calls we get from Bellingham homeowners. The combination of 36+ inches of annual rainfall, persistent gray winters, marine humidity off Bellingham Bay, and aging crawlspaces and attics creates near-perfect mold conditions for much of the year. We see Stachybotrys, Aspergillus, Cladosporium, and Penicillium routinely in Whatcom County homes.
If you can smell that musty, earthy odor when you walk into a room or open a closet, you almost certainly have moisture and mold growth somewhere — and it's almost never just where you can see it.
Lead and Other Lurking Hazards
The conversation also touched on lead-based paint, which was banned for residential use in 1978 but is still present in a large share of pre-1978 Bellingham, Lynden, and Ferndale homes. Lead is especially dangerous for children under six and pregnant women, which is why the EPA's Renovation, Repair, and Painting (RRP) rule exists and why Absolute Asbestos technicians are EPA RRP certified for lead testing and abatement.
Listen to the Full Conversation
You can stream the full Whatcom Report segment on My Bellingham Now's KGMI podcast page. We're grateful to Mary Kay Robinson and the KGMI team for shining a light on environmental hazards that most homeowners never think about until they're mid-renovation — or, worse, mid-symptom.
If anything you heard on the podcast made you want a second opinion on your home, that's exactly what we're here for. Call Absolute Asbestos at (425) 923-6994 to schedule an asbestos, lead, or mold inspection anywhere in Whatcom, Skagit, Snohomish, or Island County.