Nice house...but has asbestos

[desura]

There's a nice house that I'm interested in, but it has asbestos. Apparently the market value for the house without asbestos is 120k, but with the asbestos problem it is down to a cut-rate 60k.

How much trouble would it be to be rid of the asbestos? Like, if refurbishment costs 10k, then that is still a pretty good deal.

 

[Imp]

If it has asbestos insulation, they may have to rip out all the walls and essentially do a total gut.

I wouldn't bother due to the trouble and cost. Then there's the question of how good a job did the crew do. Did they get it all, or did they leave a ton of dust everywhere, both inside and outside, that I'll breathe in. Can they really ever get rid of all of it?

But that's me...

 

[lxskllr]

What kind of asbestos? Might be able to leave it in place more safely than remove it.

 

[Exterous]

Where is the asbestos found? Insulation? Pipe covering? Tiles? etc The location, type and extent will affect how it needs to be removed and what precautions need to be taken. Those will affect price and remediation can get pretty expensive. Sometimes you can leave it in place or finish over it depending on what it is. Asbestos is dangerous only when disturbed and the fibers get into the air

 

[iroast]

Not worth the risk for me Good luck.

 

[Rakehellion]

Clear it out asbestos you can.

 

[zinfamous]

Clear it out asbestos you can.

niiiiiice

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Asbestos that is left alone is fine knowing its there is important. I'd call a removal company generally its not that expensive to have it removed. Look for a well known company not some guy & his friend.
**do this before you buy**

Unless the house has asbestos everywhere I can't imagine it costs 60k to remove it. I assume the house needs more than asbestos removal. Look for rot & mold too.

 

[DrPizza]

Asbestos is only a problem if it's producing dust that's in the air. My first house had metal ducts (forced hot air) in the basement that were covered with asbestos. One day while bored, I put on a dust mask, went into the basement with a garden hose, and gently sprayed all of the asbestos until it was soaking wet. I kept spraying. It fell of in small sheets onto the soaked floor. I scrubbed the surface of the metal to get off the last of it and the adhesive. I cleaned up the floor - everything went into garbage bags. I could only fill the bags partially full, since everything was so soaked. The floor was spotless clean when I was done - everything completely rinsed off. I turned on a few fans to dry out the basement, double bagged everything, and took it to the landfill. $1/bag or whatever it was. I didn't know it was asbestos.

In other words, if it's something you can remove yourself, you can take measures to nearly completely eliminate dust, plus the precaution of a dust mask. It costs next to nothing.

If it's officially known about and someone's expecting to see building permits, and an asbestos abatement company, $$$.

 

[SAWYER]

Clear it out asbestos you can.

 

[CraKaJaX]

LOL this is perfect

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Should be up to the seller to make sure the house passes inspection.

 

[DrPizza]

Should be up to the seller to make sure the house passes inspection.

Passes whose inspection?

 

[Linux23]

Don't they sell those asbestos masks so you can do it yourself?

 

[lxskllr]

Don't they sell those asbestos masks so you can do it yourself?

Amateur asbestos abatement ranks up there with amateur surgery. Most people /can/ do it, but /most/ people shouldn't.

 

[Greenman]

Never heard of a house so contaminated that it sold for half price. That said, there are well established methods and procedures for proper abatement. You need to talk to a licensed abatement contractor. While you're doing the asbestos, you might as well test for lead as well. Then develop a scope of work, from that you'll be able to determine if the house is worth 60k.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Wow that's a bargain if asbestos really makes it that much cheaper. I would jump on that. I doubt it would cost 60k to get an abatement team in there to take it out, even if you went that route.

Undisturbed asbestos is not really an issue. If it's insulation or something I'd just leave it alone. If you do need to remodel that area just keep it wet, wear a mask, you can even duct tape the area and enclose it in plastic and negative pressure it with blowers. Key is to avoid the dust from going airborne and getting everywhere such as in the hvac ducts. If it's something like asbestos plaster and you need to take a whole wall down, I'd probably get a team in for that just because it will be very messy. If it's something like pipe insulation or tile, I'd just do it carefully while wearing a full fast mask and enclosing the area in plastic to keep it at a negative pressure.

While asbestos is dangerous, if you take the right precautions you should be fine. But even if you get pros to take care of it, considering you're saving 60k on the house I'd still go for it. It might cost like 10-20k to get done if it's a big job but I doubt it would cost higher than 60k.

If you do get a pro make sure they do an air quality test before and after to confirm it's all gone. A proper team will be VERY thorough and pretty much get every single mm of space clean. that's why they make the big bucks.

 

[Jumpem]

You will have to hire a professional asbestos removal company. It likely will not be cheap. I wouldn't proceed.

 

[DesiPower]

With that low price, you should be able to get tenants who will not care about asbestos and still make profit. But just make sure the local laws don't prohibit buying selling or renting such homes. However since the houses with Asbestos is selling so cheap, that tells me that there is a caveat.

 

[desura]

Thanks for the replies!

Well, what I know is that the house was built in the 1940's. The asbestos is in the exterior siding, but not AFAIKT from the interior.

 

[IronWing]

Asbestos siding is fairly cheap to get rid of as long as it isn't damaged. You will still need to hire the pros to pull it off the house but many more landfills can accept asbestos siding than can accept friable asbestos.

 

[Imp]

Thanks for the replies!

Well, what I know is that the house was built in the 1940's. The asbestos is in the exterior siding, but not AFAIKT from the interior.

1940s?

That house lived through the "lead is safe" era so there's probably a layer or two inside. Just another thing to think about...

 

[John Connor]

Asbestos won't bother you unless you bother it.

 

[Kaido]

Clear it out asbestos you can.

Okay that made me laugh, take your +1

 

[lykaon78]

Asbestos siding is fairly cheap to get rid of as long as it isn't damaged. You will still need to hire the pros to pull it off the house but many more landfills can accept asbestos siding than can accept friable asbestos.

But why remove it? My childhood home had asbestos siding and that stuff was fine. I thought it looked better than most vinyl siding options, could take a beating, and had none of the mold problems I am experiencing with the siding on my own house.

As long as you didn't remove it, it was fine. I think my parents had to disclose it when it was sold but it was such a common occurrence based on the age of the neighborhood it was a non-issue.