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How old are these homes you're looking for? Asbestos hasn't been used in many years, unless you are looking at really old homes, it isn't a concern...
Over 100 years old. Some over 150 years old. A few over 200 years old. Old homes are common in the regions of the country where the country had significant populations throughout history. I LMAO when I hear someone from the west call a 50 year old house old. Heck, some people on here consider 20 year old houses old. Whatever. I like old houses. In my city, most of the asbestos has been removed from the old houses. That's why I was very surprised to see asbestos nightmares in a small town to the north. I'm not just talking asbestos siding. I'm not just talking absestos flooring. I'm talking failing asbestos roofs that haven't been replaced, because of the high cost to remove asbestos, and the roofs have leaked to the point of destroying the entire roof structure and leaked into the walls of the house too. The renovation expenses are so high that it's not even worth it if someone gives the house away.
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Originally Posted by Trackwatch
And Asbestos isn't an issue unless you create dust or break up the fibers, and it takes LONG term exposure to cause any harm.
I would be more worried about the Radon from those flashy Granite counter tops. Maybe I should add a .
Depending on the quality purchased "hardwood"(real or laminate) flooring can last a very long time.
Roll your eyes all you want. You're missing the point. If a house has asbestos flooring, you will create dust and break up the fibers if you want to install hardwood floors. Hardwood floors can last forever---a few hundred years---but that doesn't matter if someone glued asbestos flooring over it and then decades later covered that with carpeting. It's a serious consideration when buying an older house that has carpeting because you have no idea what's under that carpeting----especially if you don't want carpeting and plan to refinish or install hardwood. Even if you're not worried about the health dangers of tearing out the asbestos, it's a significant extra cost to take into consideration when looking at the asking price of a home.
my dream is to have hard surface flooring throughout my house..... I just have 4 rooms left with carpeting, so I will get there sooner or later......
and re: laminate flooring..... I have that down in the other areas of my house and it has worn very well over the last 8 years of having many pets and foster pets in and out all of the time.... right now, it is 4 dogs and 1 cat..... not a single scratch in that time.......
Not me. I love carpeting. I also love staying in hotels where they do not wash the bedding.
I love it when I find aesbestos laden linoleum flooring. It is much more durable than that vinyl crap they use without aesbestos. In fact, some flooring places will not instal the vinl junk in homeowner houses, only in rentals. the reason? It is too soft, looks bad, shows imperfections and does not wear well. They get tired of POed complaining homeowneers demanding a new floor after six months or a year. The great thing about aesbestos products is they last forever. Since I do nto grind up my floors and snort lines of the dust, the aesbestos is nto a threat to me.
Note for the humorless: The first remark is sarcastic, the second is not.
Not me. I love carpeting. I also love staying in hotels where they do not wash the bedding.
I love it when I find aesbestos laden linoleum flooring. It is much more durable than that vinyl crap they use without aesbestos. In fact, some flooring places will not instal the vinl junk in homeowner houses, only in rentals. the reason? It is too soft, looks bad, shows imperfections and does not wear well. They get tired of POed complaining homeowneers demanding a new floor after six months or a year. The great thing about aesbestos products is they last forever. Since I do nto grind up my floors and snort lines of the dust, the aesbestos is nto a threat to me.
Note for the humorless: The first remark is sarcastic, the second is not.
If the asbestos linoleum isn't in good condition, you'd want to replace it instead of put carpeting over it.
That's where it becomes an additional expense to take into consideration when house hunting.
I love hardwood in formal (or in my case formal-ish) rooms. My living room and dining room have it and it's beautiful. BUT the master bedroom and 2 other bedrooms also have hardwood (although in 1 case it's under carpeting), and honestly, in bedrooms, I don't love hardwood so much. I'm at the age where I have to get up once or twice a night to use the bathroom, and my toes would much prefer to feel soft, warm carpet under them than cold hardwood on these cold New England nights! (And yes, I have rugs, but it's not the same.)
At my old house (which I still own and am renting out), we replaced the main areas' old, yucky carpeting with bamboo, and it is gorgeous, but we used carpet tiles in the 3 bedrooms. (The kitchen and bathrooms are tiled.) I like different flooring in different rooms.
If the asbestos linoleum isn't in good condition, you'd want to replace it instead of put carpeting over it.
That's where it becomes an additional expense to take into consideration when house hunting.
Not really. You just scrape it up and put in in the trash. (You should probably wear a mask, I would, but I woudl not worry about it if I could nto find a mask.). Do you have any idea how much exposure it takes to cause lung disease fomr aesbestos? It takes decades of breathing clouds of the dust every day with no protection. Most of the victims were also heavy smokers. How many people have gottent the disease from a house? To the best of my knowlege the answer is 0.
I love to find houses wiht asbestos in them. I can point it out and watch the realtors eyes get really big. Then when we make an offer, they jump on it. Everyone is happy.
I have removed asbestos from every house i have owned, and some friends homes as well. On pipes, slice it with a razor knife and put it in a trash bag. Siding, pry it off and throw it out if for some reason you do not want ot keep it (asbestos siding is great stuff - lasts forever, but it is not very pretty usually). Flooring - scrape it up if it is decaying, however most of it I have encoutnered is in good shape, Just clear coat it and enjoy it. Cieling tiles lift them out and replace them. However I would rarely be looking a a house new enough to have cieling tiles. Asbestos in insulation is very rare. You do not see vermeculite insualtion in houses very often. We had some once. If you have it, I would get rid of it since it is alraeady in dust form. Even though there is not enough to create an exposure risk may as well overkill on safety. Plus vermeculite is pretty poor insulation material. Vacuum it out with a shop vac while wearing a mask and googles. This is an icky dirty job. Replace the insulation with blown in cellulose (rent the machine at Home depot).
I would never remove asbestos just because it is asbestos. I would only remove it if it is decaying or in the way of something else I wanted to put in.
The panic is absurd. If you want to get all worked up about something Lead paint is a lot more dangerous. Although that is somewhat an exggerated risk as well, especially if you do not have small children around. Or mold - oh wait a minute mold is a scare scam too. Radon? Sometimes that is a real risk, but no where near the amount it is hyped to be.
The possibility of fire travelling quickly between floors in a balloon framed house is a real threat to worry about.
No exterior drains allowing ground water to undermine you foundation - that is worth worrying about.
Termite damage. If it is really extreme could be a really good big worry item.
New Granite counter tops in an historic house - now that would keep me away. That and extreme termite damage. Oh and vinyl windows.
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