Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, CaryThe Triangle Area
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Where are you folks getting those cheap estimates for abatement?
Well, I've joined this particular crowd because I've been had! Purchased this house (built in 1977) in May of 2014, put in a pool (this was to be my retirement home) and was getting ready to get the kitchen redone. Lowe's wouldn't touch it until I had it tested. $800.00 later in testing and I've got asbestos in the popcorn ceiling throughout the entire house and the soffit in the kitchen has it as well!
Did I mention that both the inspectors noted that ALL the ceilings had been painted!
Disclosure in writing from the sellers? "No asbestos" Anything or warning from the realtors? Nada!
There are only two main reasons to paint a popcorn ceiling (1) to hide stains (usually from a roof leaking) and (2) to encapsulate asbestos.
Oh, and the sellers were kind enough to have left me with 26 cans of paint to dispose of, two of which were ceiling paint! Along with a totally filthy house! Did they know? Good luck on proving that one! I've checked with two of the neighbors and both of them said that the sellers painted everything to ensure a sale. Proof they knew about the asbestos? Iffy in a court at best. Plus, add in that the sellers may well be judgment-proof even if I do happen to win. Then I'm out attorney's fees and court costs so it looks like those sellers are going to get away with it. The time and expense of a lawsuit is far more than the cost of abatement!
The abatement will take a week along with the final inspection and I have to move out and put all my stuff in the garage.
Cost estimates to abate: $8,000 up to $10,000 for a 1400 sq. ft. house.
I'm just going to have to suck it up and dive into the retirement fund AGAIN!
One more thing to consider. If you hide it or encapsulate it, when you decide you want to sell, you'd better disclose it! The folks I bought from got away with it but you got to ask yourself, if I don't disclose, "Am I feeling lucky today?"
Well, I've joined this particular crowd because I've been had! Purchased this house (built in 1977) in May of 2014, put in a pool (this was to be my retirement home) and was getting ready to get the kitchen redone. Lowe's wouldn't touch it until I had it tested. $800.00 later in testing and I've got asbestos in the popcorn ceiling throughout the entire house and the soffit in the kitchen has it as well!
Did I mention that both the inspectors noted that ALL the ceilings had been painted!
Disclosure in writing from the sellers? "No asbestos" Anything or warning from the realtors? Nada!
There are only two main reasons to paint a popcorn ceiling (1) to hide stains (usually from a roof leaking) and (2) to encapsulate asbestos.
Oh, and the sellers were kind enough to have left me with 26 cans of paint to dispose of, two of which were ceiling paint! Along with a totally filthy house! Did they know? Good luck on proving that one! I've checked with two of the neighbors and both of them said that the sellers painted everything to ensure a sale. Proof they knew about the asbestos? Iffy in a court at best. Plus, add in that the sellers may well be judgment-proof even if I do happen to win. Then I'm out attorney's fees and court costs so it looks like those sellers are going to get away with it. The time and expense of a lawsuit is far more than the cost of abatement!
The abatement will take a week along with the final inspection and I have to move out and put all my stuff in the garage.
Cost estimates to abate: $8,000 up to $10,000 for a 1400 sq. ft. house.
I'm just going to have to suck it up and dive into the retirement fund AGAIN!
One more thing to consider. If you hide it or encapsulate it, when you decide you want to sell, you'd better disclose it! The folks I bought from got away with it but you got to ask yourself, if I don't disclose, "Am I feeling lucky today?"
Any other horror stories out there?
Why is it unreasonable to think that they never had any testing done, it wasn't a big deal to them because they didn't plan to scrape ceilings and encapsulation is a reasonable (and recommended) way to deal with asbestos?
My house was built in the 60's. Every person that has lived in it since then hasn't done asbestos testing. Why would you incur the expense if you're just going to paint it anyway? And why would you disclose something if you don't actually know it to be true? If YOU want to know what is in a house you buy YOU should have done the testing before you bought. There is absolutely no good reason to assume your sellers *knew* that it was asbestos. Painting a house before selling, even the ceiling, is perfectly reasonable and doesn't indicate any ulterior motives.
Why would you incur the expense if you're just going to paint it anyway? And why would you disclose something if you don't actually know it to be true? If YOU want to know what is in a house you buy YOU should have done the testing before you bought. There is absolutely no good reason to assume your sellers *knew* that it was asbestos. Painting a house before selling, even the ceiling, is perfectly reasonable and doesn't indicate any ulterior motives.
ABSOLUTELY.
People paint ceilings, popcorn or not, for the same reasons they paint the rest of the house. It's dirty, old and tired-looking. A fresh coat of paint makes it look so much better. ANY buyer should know that there is a possibility of asbestos in construction materials used in older homes. It can be in the linoleum/vinyl flooring, too. If a BUYER is going to entertain the idea of buying an older home it's on them to decide if they can deal with any problems that arise. Sellers are not required to disclose. They can check the "no representation" box which basically means "I'm not answering". When I sold my parents' house built in the 50s "as-is" I checked that box.
Mine ran over $5.00 sq ft for asbestos abatement but I live in Vegas. And I'm still dealing with the mess they left!
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