patrick.net

zzyzzx says

The risks are way overblown to make people think they need to pay thousands to have it professionally done.

I know they are overblown. That's the problem. If I remove it myself, or just ignore it, it might come back to bite me when I sell. I'm not so worried about it from a safety standpoint, more of a cost standpoint.

I'm not likely to remove it myself. I'd rather have the seller pay for it and have a record of having it done professionally.

If you remove it properly, yourself, and there is no evidence if it ever being there, why do you need a record of it?

swebb says

Note this is a very old house, built before 1900. I don't believe asbestos was in wide use when the house was built.

Neither was central heat/air conditioning. If the house has duct work, it was installed sometime AFTER the house was built.

unstoppable says

It's not rocket science, a proper respirator, a tyvek bunny suit, duct tape, a spray bottle, some plastic tarp, a bunch of plastic bags and you're ready to get to work.

I agree, they make it seem like it's the most hazards job in the world to remove asbestos, but long as it's kept wet when removing it, it's not too dangerous. The spray bottle is to spray the air to wet any dust particles making them fall to the ground. While not legal to do this type of work yourself, what they don't know can't hurt you. Like Unstoppable says, put plastic traps up to seal off the area your working in, including the floor. wear a protective suit, mask, have several spray bottles, have someone constantly spraying the bottle as your removing the asbestos, put everything in plastic bags. try to do a small area as possible, so your not entering and leaving the work area for several days. When completed, spray your selves down well in an airlock, break everything down from the outside and into plastic bags they go. You'll save yourself a ton of $ doing it yourself.

It's possible your my get a little asbestos exposure during the course of your work, but doesn't kill you instantly. It's only with prolonged exposure that health concerns develop. So long as you do a good job removing it, it shouldn't be an issue in the future.

Now if the state gets involved, they will make a federal project out of it costing you thousands of dollars with hiring a licensed contractor, air testing and disposal fees.

everything says

IF you do remove it yourself put fans in the window so suck all the fibers out, they are very small.

I disagree with this, you don't want the fibers moving around. Isolate the area much as possible, remove the asbestos, soak the air and ceiling with water, everything goes into plastic bags, including the plastic tarps and your work suit when you done, only your mask, plastic gloves and goggles don't get tossed, you can hose them off outside later and replace the air filter cartridges.

swebb says

1. Dig out the basement. Right now it's only a partial basement with crawlspace. We may want to dig out the basement in the future which would necessitate re-working of the ducts.
2. Installing radon mitigation system. The basement tested for (slightly) elevated radon levels...mitigation involves installing a plastic barrier over the dirt crawlspace and venting to the outside. This would likely disturb the ducting.
3. Installing central air. Not sure if this would affect the current ducting, but it could. Some HVAC shops won't touch a system with asbestos wrapped ducts.

You're worried about 2 ducts in the basement?? That's a big so what. I thought you were talking about in the attic or framing. Don't strip it at all, just replace the ducts. Even if you had it done professionaly as asbestos abatement it wouldn't be that much. Why don't you just go get a quote instead of playing what if in your mind, no one charges for a job quote. They should be able to quote it just on the description of the space and the duct length.

Asbestos is a naturally occurring substance. You are breathing it right now. There is probably more coming in the windows and doors of the house than coming from the ducts. Unless you are a asbestos worker the risks of asbestos are so small it's not worth worrying about. Even the EPA has backed off a lot on asbestos.

bob2356 says

You're worried about 2 ducts in the basement?? That's a big so what. I thought you were talking about in the attic or framing. Don't strip it at all, just replace the ducts. Even if you had it done professionaly as asbestos abatement it wouldn't be that much. Why don't you just go get a quote instead of playing what if in your mind, no one charges for a job quote. They should be able to quote it just on the description of the space and the duct length.

I did get an inspection (samples tested of various places) and a quote for the duct work. Around $3,000 for the first quote. I haven't received the other written quote yet, but his off the cuff estimate was somewhat lower than that.

The asbestos testing results confirmed the duct insulation was asbestos (as expected), provided a negative result for the 2 layers of flooring in the kitchen, and an effectively negative result on the drywall and textured finish in the attic. The joint compound did have some asbestos, but when considered in aggregate (As the EPA and Colorado permit) the composite number was around 0.1% (less than 1% isn't considered asbestos containing for the purposes of demolition / remodeling safety)

I'm not so worried about it from a health standpoint, but from a resale and or renovation standpoint it is important to me. The duct work in the basement is likely to be disturbed by work we are planning, so it will have to be dealt with on one way or another.

I asked the sellers for a concession in the amount of the abatement estimate, and they agreed. (We didn't ask for any other concessions although there are quite a number of things we could have asked for, so the $3k abatement concession could be considered o apply to the whole house)

Note that Colorado is apparently fairly strict and "requires" an asbestos test prior to issuing a work permit -- that is a primary reason I was a stickler for the asbestos testing.