The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Real Estate and Landlording => Topic started by: Le Poisson on November 14, 2017, 03:08:03 PM
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So a place I had an eye on went off the market with an offer, then came back on the market deeply discounted after failing inspection.
Has anyone here bought a place with vermiculite insulation? What was remediation cost? Any stories to tell?
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no have not bought any but here are a couple of resources.
https://www.epa.gov/asbestos/protect-your-family-asbestos-contaminated-vermiculite-insulation
http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/articles/dept/musings/fixing-attics-vermiculite-insulation
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Have you read the inspection? Is it stuff you can fix yourself for a good price? Maybe the lower price is equal to what you'll need to invest to get it right again.
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I think you'd want to run the report by an asbestos licensed contractor and ask. If this is stuff that's just going to stay in the walls, I'd think "who cares?", but I'm not in the business. Get an expert's opinion. Also keep in mind that any future sale is going to again bring up this stuff and you might have just as hard of a time selling the place.
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If it were me I would not buy the house.
If you plan to remove and replace all the insulation and never move again then I would say buy it. The potential issue of selling the house in the future is enough to keep me at bay though.
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IT would be an investment, so most of my concern is with cost of removal versus purchase price. The house also needs some K&T wiring done. If walls need to be opened up to remove insulation, then the K&T would be easier to replace. OTOH, if we are looking at huge expense on the Aesbestos, it may offset the equation. Just wondering if anyone has been through this and what their experience looked like. As much as I like the "Seal it in" approach, I'm not sure that would work since I have to access the K&T.
Basically, wiring will disturb Asbestos, so doing wiring without addressing the insulation first isn't possible.
Asbestos remediation will open up walls for K&T, so doing insulation first could set up access for rewiring second, but then there will be holes in walls to patch after the job is done.
There is the possibility of running this job as a symbiotic relationship if order of operations is set right, but the unknown is what scares me. Does the house have to be stripped to studs to remove insulation? Does the contractor punch holes and run a vacuum? How does the work look and what is the cost?
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<...> Does the contractor punch holes and run a vacuum? How does the work look and what is the cost?
Some employees from contractors do this. My DH has seen some during their lunch break throwing knives into the vapour barrier. He was convinced the inner walls would be installed right over that pinched vapour barrier.
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How does a house fail an inspection? Do you mean that it doesn't qualify for financing?
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Aha! I found it. Maybe there's something helpful for you in this thread.
https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/share-your-badassity/asbestos-disposal-it's-done!/msg1765444/?topicseen#new
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IT would be an investment, so most of my concern is with cost of removal versus purchase price. The house also needs some K&T wiring done. If walls need to be opened up to remove insulation, then the K&T would be easier to replace. OTOH, if we are looking at huge expense on the Aesbestos, it may offset the equation. Just wondering if anyone has been through this and what their experience looked like. As much as I like the "Seal it in" approach, I'm not sure that would work since I have to access the K&T.
Basically, wiring will disturb Asbestos, so doing wiring without addressing the insulation first isn't possible.
Asbestos remediation will open up walls for K&T, so doing insulation first could set up access for rewiring second, but then there will be holes in walls to patch after the job is done.
There is the possibility of running this job as a symbiotic relationship if order of operations is set right, but the unknown is what scares me. Does the house have to be stripped to studs to remove insulation? Does the contractor punch holes and run a vacuum? How does the work look and what is the cost?
Don't forget your plaster / drywall mud may have asbestos in it too... Maybe even lead paint if it is is old enough. At this point, honestly, I would remove some of the walls to get at the k&T, remove the insulation in those walls, and redo the drywall with new drywall. About half the house, maybe.
$600 per room to drywall a 12x12 room , no ceiling (12 sheets of drywall), maybe? Plus painting (do it yourself?). Plus disposal, new insulation, new K&T.
Oh, and if you get to enough cost (over $75k), at least one municipality requires you to install sprinklers, so don't go there!
Disposal of asbestos compounds requires a special permit here if over 2000 lbs, and needs to be double bagged by the safety equipment wearing contractor -- in 30lb max bags....
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just wanna jump in to say many contractors hate working with K&T electrical, and it's often a huge fire hazard, especially if the wires have the old cloth insulation. Just the K&T itself is a huge headache, nevermind the asbestos, unless you want to rip it all out and replace with a modern electrical system.