Asbestos

[mcp6453]

Why is it even legal to sell a home with asbestos that needs to be removed? (I understand that not all asbestos has to be removed if it is sealed and not disturbed.)

[cjt]

What's the bank to do with it after if forecloses? Can't expect the poor banks to do fixer-uppers!

[Stormin Mormon]

Why is the government involved? Isn't the USA the land of the free?

How far our nation has fallen.

Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus

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[HeyBub]

Can you give an example of asbestos that needs to be removed?

[gregz]

I can give examples. Asbestos hanging loose from ceiling ducting. Asbestos inside ducts.

I got asbestos wrapped around the round ducting connections branching from the rectangular ducting. My home inspector pointed that out. It's mostly intact. I was going to paint over. I decided to wrap plastic ducting tape over it instead. It should last a long time. The tape overlaps and forms a seal.

Greg

[Evan]

Except that you would have no idea if there are openings in the duct work nor a vibration condition which may be releasing asbestos particles into the air stream in the duct...

Asbestos removal is expensive but worth the investment...

~~ Evan

[jw]

Removal is what causes it to spread. If it's contained and sealed, it's best left alone. It's only the dry dust small particles in the air that get breathed that are dangerous. Big chunks that are solid or wet are totally safe. Hell, you could probably eat them (not suggested though).

Can you think of another way? Should the tear down every home that has the stuff? Someday we're gonna run out of building materials, why make that day sooner for something that is much overrated as a scare tactic so these expensive removal companies can steal your money? Then think about this. When a building is demolished with a wrecking ball and bulldozer, there is more asbestos getting in the air than any other time.

When I worked as a plumber, I removed lots of it. I'd tape the spots I intended to cut it with duct tape. Make a slice on the top of the pipe that it was on, and soak it with wet rags or a garden hose depending on location. After it was well soaked, I'd cut it and peel it off with rubber gloves and shove it into trash bags. Then wipe the pipes off with wet rags and repair the pipes. I replaced the insulation with modern foam. The cut ends of the asbestos I'd seal with some autobody undercoating. Then the foam would get duct tape and overlap the asbestos. That's sealed....

I never wore space suits, or put up plastic walls or any of that nonsense. AS long as it was wet, it was harmless. In finished floors, I put plastic. Most of this work was in basements. Then I'd just hose down the whole floor into a drain.

I knew a guy in the flooring business who used to sand down vinyl asbestos tile, with a coarse floor sander to level the floor before installing new flooring. Now that WAS dangerous. He lived to be well into his 80's, and died from diabetes, not asbestos related.

You need to use caution, but it's not like a deadly poison waiting to attack you at any moment.

we live in a society where there are a lot of extremists who are out to scare people with lots of things, and much of the time it's all based on advertising. They know there is a sucker born every minute.

I'm a farmer, I do not use any chemicals, except minimal amounts of "Roundup" in very weedy areas, which are not used for crops or livestock. I use maybe 2 or 3 cans of fly spray per year. That's all. What worries me, much more than asbestos, or lead paint, or radon, or any of that stuff, are the neighbors that spray huge tanks of chemicals, which DOES get in my air and onto my land. A few years ago they were using aerial spraying, and myself and several other neighbors filed a lawsuit because the shit was going everywhere. I lost hundreds of dollars worth of hay that year because I was just getting ready to bale my hay, and instead had to wait several weeks for rains to dissipate that over spray on my fields. By that time, I lost a whole cutting.

The court put a stop to the spraying, and a year later the farmer died, and the cause of death was due to farming chemicals. If you want something to fear that is WORTH fearing, fear these chemicals. They are many thousand times worse than all these nonsense things such as asbestos, radon, and lead paint. I'll add to this one last thing. Yea, kids that chew on windowsills ARE in danger of lead poisoning from older lead based paints. But there is a simple solution. FEED the damn kid and they wont chew on paint! Learn to be a parent, and smack the kid who does chew on paint. Dont blame the paint, blame the parents who are not doing their job as parents.

[harryagain]

Except that you would have no idea if there are openings in the duct work nor a vibration condition which may be releasing asbestos particles into the air stream in the duct...

Asbestos removal is expensive but worth the investment...

~~ Evan

[harryagain]

Except that you would have no idea if there are openings in the duct work nor a vibration condition which may be releasing asbestos particles into the air stream in the duct...

Asbestos removal is expensive but worth the investment...

~~ Evan

Asbestos can cause many lung diseases including lung cancer and emphesymia. If you have damaged asbestos in the house, it's no good just covering it up the fibres will be everywhere already. The asbestos will have to be dealt with and the house thoroughly cleaned. This is very time consuming especially if ducts are involved as someone else has said.

[trader4]

Who says it is legal? For example, here in NJ you need a certificate of occupancy prior to the sale or rental of a property. Just like they check for obvious safety defects like missing smoke detectors or railings along stairs, if you had asbestos hanging loose and falling from the ceiling, I would bet they would flag it.

In addition, the state requires a disclosure form that the seller must fill out where they ask a long list of questions, many of which I think are stupid. I'll bet the question of asbestos is on there. If you lied, the buyer would have recourse.

[HeyBub]

How is it worth the investment, aside from making people "feel" better?

Can you point to ANY instance of ANY disease attributed to the consumer use of asbestos or any study that supports the hypothesis?

[joevan]

I wrapped all our heating pipes asbestos with plastic duct tape 25 years ago maybe 35 years ago as I have been here in the same house for going on 38 years.

[jw]

The problem with this is that the average homeowner probably dont even know what asbestos looks like. The same for many of the other questions on the form.

[joevan]

I guess I am not average as I have microscopes and can tell the difference from fiberglass and asbestos. I also know the age of the house which is 200 years old. I surmised that the pipes were added about a hundred years ago from now, or more, and concluded that the insulation on my heating pipes( leading to the radiators from the oil fired boiler) would be asbestos, so it was wrapped with many, many rolls of plastic duct tape. Sad to say most people as you say would not know. They are prey to the service or rather disservice people.

[Ed Pawlowski]

So what if it is on there? That does not make anything illegal or unsafe. There is a lot of hysteria about asbestos. Under certain circumstances, it can be a hazard, but left alone and covered, it is harmless.

[HeyBub]

Slight correction: Unless you mean the prisoners will be dressed by Armani, I think what you mean is "lawsuits".

[krw]

In Vermont, a CO was required for sale, too. However, the only thing it proved was that it was inspected at some point. The only thing that wasn't grandfathered was that a CO detector was required. It didn't need to be AC as does new construction, though.

Sure. There is nothing wrong with that.

[krw]

No problem. This is one place where ignorance is good.