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Someone very dear to me is looking to buy fairly old, but fairly well renovated house (above the grade), except that there is an asbestos covered oil fired furnace with some asbestos pipes (not the whole basement) around it as well. Property is located in MA that definitely have some strict environmental laws. I was not sure if removal and disposal is very expensive or not as big deal?
Someone mentioned that good rule for calculating the cost is: double your new furnace cost, because your removal and remediation could cost you as much if not even more, as the buying and installing of new heating boiler. Not sure that should be the truth, but it is serious red flag for young buyers, as it should be. Now I am very curious at the cost as well, especially since these older 50' furnaces are getting almost extinct. BTW this is not an octopus but gravity type, if it helps.
If anyone had any experience, I would be very curious.
Thanks.
In California ( I know not where you are at) you can remediate up to 100 sq feet without needing a notice. May want to see if its applicable to your state
Someone very dear to me is looking to buy fairly old, but fairly well renovated house
there is an asbestos covered oil fired furnace with some asbestos pipes...
Property is located in MA that definitely have some strict environmental laws.
I was not sure if removal and disposal is very expensive or not as big deal?
If needed... it's a major and expensive PITA big deal.
The question is whether or to what degree removal may be needed.
Absent damage probably none... though "containment" or "encapsulation might still be needed.
That is still a big deal.
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If someone very dear to me was looking to buy a fairly old home with asbestos insulation like you
describe I'd advise them to insist it be removed in advance and the home certified safe as a sale contingency.
The owner and their agent should know to expect this and he listing should even address it.
If needed... it's a major and expensive PITA big deal.
The question is whether or to what degree removal may be needed.
Absent damage probably none... though "containment" or "encapsulation might still be needed.
That is still a big deal.
---
If someone very dear to me was looking to buy a fairly old home with asbestos insulation like you
describe I'd advise them to insist it be removed in advance and the home certified safe as a sale contingency.
The owner and their agent should know to expect this and he listing should even address it.
Oh geez. Buying an older home in New England (been there, done that, usually over 130 years old)... of COURSE you will likely find asbestos, lead pipes, K&T, oil and lead paint, no insulation... the 'octopus' in the basement, coal bin, cistern, etc... They don't make them like they used to. Nothing wrong with any of those things (though I put in insulation between the double brick walls in one house)...
If someone is contemplating buying an old house without taking all the alleged 'issues' into account, they have no business attempting to buy such a place. JMHO. So if 'someone very dear to you' does not know what he/she is doing, and is insisting on abatement as a terms of sale, there is a term for such; it is called 'homeless'.
Leaving asbestos-wrapped pipes alone/undisturbed works fine. If someone is planning extensive renovations that may produce Mg3Si2O5(OH)4 (a mouthful, huh?) particles in the air, that is a different story, and that can be expensive. Containment is not exactly rocket science, and can be done very effectively by a competent DIY'er, though I would never admit that to the guv'ment. The stuff we used in the R&D labs were far more toxic than asbestos, (ever play with beryllium?), and simple procedures kept it harmless to all. "knowledge and common sense always dominates fear".
Thanks everyone. They will have someone in the house today to give them an idea. They want to convert to gas. Who wants to buy 900K home and heat with 60 year old furnace?
Thanks everyone. They will have someone in the house today to give them an idea. They want to convert to gas. Who wants to buy 900K home and heat with 60 year old furnace?
Most people. Because they're more interested in the kitchen and bathrooms rather the heating system. Most people wait until the heating system breaks down and is not fixable to replace it.
If it's available it would be at the top of my to do list.
WHEN that happens it means the existing equipment is surely all coming out
which in turn will disturb everything attached to it... including the insulation.
Then you have the oil tank issues to deal with as well.
When you say asbestos pipes, you means asbestos wrapped pipes, right?
I'm in Massachusetts. When I bought my current house, 80 feet worth of the heating pipe was wrapped in asbestos.
As others have mentioned, if it's not fraying at the edges, bits aren't falling out, etc, then it's fine to leave it alone. Don't screw with it and it is safe enough.
However, at the four year mark of living there, I decided it had started to go at the edges, and was no longer safe. At that point, you really do have to bring in professionals to deal with it. I believe the price tag was around $2,500 to 3K to have it all removed (it's been a few years, so my memory is a little hazy, and prices may have gone up). They were in and out in a day and it was over and done with.
A lot of the cost was not the actual labor, but the fact that the abatement company has to pay a special disposal site to take the materials off their hands. You can't just toss it in a regular landfill. After they did that, they gave me back a certificate of proof as to how it had been disposed of, in case it ever came up in the future.
It was not wrapped around the furnace, however. I'm not even sure what that would look like -- the sellers had installed a brand new furnace only two years earlier, so I lucked out there.
Last edited by tickybox; 11-15-2013 at 08:50 AM..
Reason: bad code!
Then you have the oil tank issues to deal with as well.
CL, I sold two of them out this house for about $200 and I didn't even have to take them out. As long as they are reasonable shape you can easily get rid them. At least where I live.
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