Something to check into I think.

[Greg O]

It may be possible for the homeowners to remove it himself, if they are able. In this area it is acceptable for homeowners to do their own abatement as long as they do it properly. Greg

[House Mouse]

Buddy of mine is a contractor and I work with him on his bigger jobs.

We were working on a contract to repair an older home that had been damaged by fire. We had the burned part of the roof off and we were working on demolition of the second floor burned areas when the local inspector showed up.

He looked around a bit and then called us off the job. In his inspection he found that some of the old duct work had been wrapped in asbestos fiber blankets and since we were not qualified asbestos removal agents he was shutting the job down.

He was " nice " enough to allow two people to stay behind and tarp the open sections of the roof but stopped all other work till the offending duct work had been removed or sealed buy certified asbestos removal teams.

That was a month ago. The home owner has discovered that his insurance will not cover asbestos removal. The lowest estimate the home owner has gotten so far was 10 thousand dollars.

( I guess it takes guys in bunny suits to get the job done according to ordinance. )

Grief for him and I feel bad for him but....

I also live in an old house. I also have some asbestos wrapped around my heating ducts from back when the home was heated by coal. Also the house has asbestos siding.

I contacted my insurance company and learned that I was also NOT covered for asbestos removal. Well an extra $35 bucks a year for a rider solved my problem.

But.....

It might be something you need to check out for your home.

HM

[House Mouse]

I am not too sure about all the rules and regulations around here. Who can and who can't remove it. I see no reason why any contractor could not remove the stuff. The whole deal over asbestos is chicken little running around paranoid that the sky is falling in my opinion.

As I understand it.... The asbestos has to be removed by a specially trained crew and after it is removed the home own has to show the code officer a copy of a certificate that the removal company will give him after the job is finished. Certifying that all asbestos has been removed in compliance with such and such a law. Then the code officer shows up and does his own inspection and if he is satisfied then the rest of the work can continue.

Buncha bullshit if you ask me. I can't help but wonder if the home owner pissed someone off in city hall and they are just making his life miserable for payback.

But check your home owners and fire insurance You could avoid a huge headache.

HM