Current Events > So my floor might be full of Asbestos. Advice would be appreciated.

(+) Yeah! (+)

It's not that easy, man. But I'll try to get something worked out. I don't have 5k sitting around. Nor do we have a place for our animals, all of our belongings, and ourselves to sleep.
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If you got enough equity, might be of interest to look into a HELOC

But I feel your pain. I bought a house two years ago, and the previous 'renovator' put in a finished room in the basement that ended up flooding and getting mold by the time I figured it out

They knew it flooded too and still decided to go along with it... now I'm down a few grand and my house has one less bedroom
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lww99 posted...

It's not that easy, man. But I'll try to get something worked out. I don't have 5k sitting around. Nor do we have a place for our animals, all of our belongings, and ourselves to sleep.

The risks of home ownership, my friend.

Did your animal cause the damage?
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Yeah, a puppy. You may have heard me mention Oreo Pupper before.

The carpet was pretty stained when we moved in, but she finished it off.
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Insurance won't cover it then.

I guess you'll have to live with it while you save to have it removed professionally, or go down risky/dodgy building practices.
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I have the stuff in my floor tiles and have dealt with it in the past.
Forget Home Depot for the removal. All you need is a vacuum, floor scrapper and a good breathing mask. Wear long sleeves and pants.
The asbestos fibers in the tile are within it. Pressed in the glue of the tile itself. It will not become airborne through the simple act of removing it. You would have to grind the titles up and have the particles go airborne for it to have any chance of being dangerous.
A floor scrapper is $20 at Lowes. Looks like a large spatula on a metal handle the size of a shovel. Scrape up all the tiles and put them in large trash bags. Thrown them a couple at a time in your regular street trash bin. After those are gone run the vacuum on the subfloor. Use the attachments to get in the cracks. That's it. Wipe down the walls or counters if it's the kitchen. From there check the sub floor. If it's damaged then work on replacing it with 5/8 OSB board. The old wood will not have any asbestos in it or on it. Then have Home Depot put in the rug.
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EternalDivide posted...


@CyricZ just had a heart attack reading this post.
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DavidWong posted...

EternalDivide posted...

I have the stuff in my floor tiles and have dealt with it in the past.
Forget Home Depot for the removal. All you need is a vacuum, floor scrapper and a good breathing mask. Wear long sleeves and pants.
The asbestos fibers in the tile are within it. Pressed in the glue of the tile itself. It will not become airborne through the simple act of removing it. You would have to grind the titles up and have the particles go airborne for it to have any chance of being dangerous.
A floor scrapper is $20 at Lowes. Looks like a large spatula on a metal handle the size of a shovel. Scrape up all the tiles and put them in large trash bags. Thrown them a couple at a time in your regular street trash bin. After those are gone run the vacuum on the subfloor. Use the attachments to get in the cracks. That's it. Wipe down the walls or counters if it's the kitchen. From there check the sub floor. If it's damaged then work on replacing it with 5/8 OSB board. The old wood will not have any asbestos in it or on it. Then have Home Depot put in the rug.

@CyricZ just had a heart attack reading this post.

So did I.
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yeah who cares if your family gets lung cancer. You saved a couple of grand!
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CyricZ posted...

eston posted...

*drags you out of the topic by the scruff*

lol
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@Error1355

STP up in hea
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TC for the love of god do not listen to a word EternalDivide said.
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Actually that post should be deleted tbqh.

@chrono625 edit that out in case a mod deletes it, because that post shouldn't be on the site, if someone does that they will give themselves and their family lung cancer in 40 years.
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Surely you knew what you were getting into before you bought the house?

Don't listen to any chucklefucks who say removing asbestos is easy and safe.
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R0N1N187 posted...

Surely you knew what you were getting into before you bought the house?

Lots of home sellers are really good at hiding problems with houses and lot of inspectors are morons. If you live in America and are buying a pre 1980s house your walking into a lot of possble toxic and terrible things (such as asbestos, lead paint, aluminum wiring, etc)

Hell, even modern homes are probably full of terrible stuff killing us but we just don't' know yet.
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YellowSUV posted...

R0N1N187 posted...

Surely you knew what you were getting into before you bought the house?

Lots of home sellers are really good at hiding problems with houses and lot of inspectors are morons. If you live in America and are buying a pre 1980s house your walking into a lot of possble toxic and terrible things (such as asbestos, lead paint, aluminum wiring, etc)

Hell, even modern homes are probably full of terrible stuff killing us but we just don't' know yet.

In the state of California, they have these signs on the new buildings that say that chemicals in this building are known to cause cancer or some shit.

You can safely assume that if a house is built before 1990, there will be asbestos in it.
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R0N1N187 posted...

YellowSUV posted...

R0N1N187 posted...

Surely you knew what you were getting into before you bought the house?

Lots of home sellers are really good at hiding problems with houses and lot of inspectors are morons. If you live in America and are buying a pre 1980s house your walking into a lot of possble toxic and terrible things (such as asbestos, lead paint, aluminum wiring, etc)

Hell, even modern homes are probably full of terrible stuff killing us but we just don't' know yet.

In the state of California, they have these signs on the new buildings that say that chemicals in this building are known to cause cancer or some shit.

Yeah, those stupid Prop 65 signs. They're everywhere. A bunch of nonsensical panic by way of stupid people drama. When the state now every single place putting those signs up you stop caring.
If everything may cause cancer well then shit, who cares at that point.
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EternalDivide posted...

R0N1N187 posted...

YellowSUV posted...

R0N1N187 posted...

Surely you knew what you were getting into before you bought the house?

Lots of home sellers are really good at hiding problems with houses and lot of inspectors are morons. If you live in America and are buying a pre 1980s house your walking into a lot of possble toxic and terrible things (such as asbestos, lead paint, aluminum wiring, etc)

Hell, even modern homes are probably full of terrible stuff killing us but we just don't' know yet.

In the state of California, they have these signs on the new buildings that say that chemicals in this building are known to cause cancer or some shit.

Yeah, those stupid Prop 65 signs. They're everywhere. A bunch of nonsensical panic by way of stupid people drama. When the state now every single place putting those signs up you stop caring.
If everything may cause cancer well then shit, who cares at that point.

According to prop 65 everything is a carcinogen.
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Hire the right contractor and theyll do it.
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Did you call more than 1 contractor about the asbestos? Because it doesn't sound like you have. I used to do it professionally and I would still rather pay someone to deal with it than do it myself.
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So who's letting me crash at their place?
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I think I remember you as someone who thinks people can only own a home if the're rich.

I mean I have 1k saved, which is about 1% of the value. I don't have 5k, and a temporary residence to stay in.
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There's several posters here that share your attitude. Only the elite are worthy.
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lww99 posted...

There's several posters here that share your attitude. Only the elite are worthy.

If you can't afford it you might not be worthy tbh
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lww99 posted...

There's several posters here that share your attitude. Only the elite are worthy.

You sound ovetly emotional because what dude said was good advice and wouldve helped prevent the issue you have now. He said squat about being rich.
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Deedice posted...

lww99 posted...

There's several posters here that share your attitude. Only the elite are worthy.

You sound ovetly emotional because what dude said was good advice and wouldve helped prevent the issue you have now. He said squat about being rich.

It's something I see all too often on Gfaqs. And as I said, I do have the 1% he mentioned.
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lww99 posted...

I've heard that Asbestos is "safe" while it's still intact. The danger comes when it's broken up, and the fumes go into the air.

The problem with Asbestos is small fibers of it break off and mix with the dust in the air. This gets into your lungs. Your body can clean the dust out but not the Asbestos fibers. Those fibers later go on to cause mesothelioma. In other words, get out now, get the place tested for asbestos, and remove all of it before replacing the floor if it exists.
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Tyranthraxus posted...

lww99 posted...

I've heard that Asbestos is "safe" while it's still intact. The danger comes when it's broken up, and the fumes go into the air.

The problem with Asbestos is small fibers of it break off and mix with the dust in the air. This gets into your lungs. Your body can clean the dust out but not the Asbestos fibers. Those fibers later go on to cause mesothelioma. In other words, get out
now, get the place tested for asbestos, and remove all of it before replacing the floor if it exists.

I wish it were that easy. It's hard to find a place for two people and five animals to live. It's not as easy as "get out".
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lww99 posted...

Tyranthraxus posted...

lww99 posted...

I've heard that Asbestos is "safe" while it's still intact. The danger comes when it's broken up, and the fumes go into the air.

The problem with Asbestos is small fibers of it break off and mix with the dust in the air. This gets into your lungs. Your body can clean the dust out but not the Asbestos fibers. Those fibers later go on to cause mesothelioma. In other words, get out
now, get the place tested for asbestos, and remove all of it before replacing the floor if it exists.

I wish it were that easy. It's hard to find a place for two people and five animals to live. It's not as easy as "get out".

you might have to split with your animals for a bit. leave them in a nursery, you stay at a hotel. shouldn't be too expensive. The best case scenario is that there isn't any asbestos and you can go back right away.

You're talking about dealing with something for which the only hope of survival is a lung transplant. Whatever you think is hard, I assure you doing it while you have uncurable lung cancer is harder.
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How exactly do you make a home built before 2000s asbestos free?

I'm ready to give up tbh. This shit is horrible. Hopefully Home Depot let's me cancel my $2000 order, and doesn't charge me for cancellation.
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DavidWong posted...

EternalDivide posted...

CyricZ just had a heart attack reading this post.

I lose more monocles that way.
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