At first I was quite concerned that the asbestos removal was going to blow my budget, I got a quote of $800.00 just to do an inspection to identify what definitely contained asbestos and what did not. I knew there would be a bit of asbestos in the house but I didn't realise how much and I didn't realise that I would have to remove so much. when I had a good look around the place I found the following areas I thought might well be asbestos:
- The entire bathroom and toilet room walls,
- All the laundry walls,
- The eaves,
- The kitchen splash back and some of the 'wet wall',
- And the kitchen and dining room vinyl flooring
(Also a small piece screwed to the lounge room ceiling someone was trying to do a good job patching a hole).
- The eaves will stay as they are not being disturbed and would be very expensive to completely removed and replaced.
- The laundry only needs one wall removed as it is not being disturbed but someone has kicked a large hole through the one wall to gain access to the kitchen
- The kitchen splash back will be replaced as I want to re-tile the splash back but the wet wall I will leave in place as I want to re use the cupboard units so I will re-paint so that it is sealed and meets code.
- The bathroom all needs to come out
- And finally the flooring all needs to come out as I want to polish up the boards.
Once I realised how expensive it was to get the proper report done I decided just to make the decision myself that it was asbestos and have everything I wanted gone taken out professionally. I was able to get a few guys to look at it and got a good price from a very helpful contractor who agreed to come and remove it all the very next day. Although I had to work all day I was able to meet him a 6:00am to open up and run through it all again and then my brother James was able to go out and lock up when they were finished. Thanks James, all the asbestos that was going to cause some grief is gone!
What does concern me a little though is that while I have spent, what turned out to be quite a reasonable amount of money employing professionals to get rid of the necessary asbestos so as not to risk my lungs: there were big holes kicked right through a couple of asbestos walls in the bathroom and laundry. When it really boils down to it, it's incredibly sad to think that in 30, 40 even 50 years if there are a handful of people from around here fighting mesothelioma; I may have found the kids who ruffed up my house and they may be paying far too high a price for a mistake they made before they had any idea what it would cost.
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