OK, the lead and asbestos information is coming to you – and before you click, I know this stuff may sound boring, but it’s actually interesting because I can see how many dollars we’re saving. I am confused. In previous gut renovations, I relied on my professional contractor to hire experts to do the necessary work, and listen, typical GCs don’t offer budgets or DIY ideas. You wouldn’t want to skimp on things like foundation or ask the homeowner to DIY asbestos (especially on a public project) because you have to guarantee the work for a long time. archiformFor example, there is a high-end company, and for our huge renovation, they hired the best of the best in Portland, which meant the most expensive subs that guarantees very high quality work that lasts forever (but it adds up, of course). It was great for this house (sometimes it’s hard to admit, but I’m grateful it was done right and already). Now, for guest cottages, we don’t want to spend money if we don’t really need it. And by managing the project myself (no GC), I’m learning a lot. I’m getting several quotes and I’m asking experts what they would recommend that we try to deal with ourselves instead of hiring out. I was surprised by the answers I received regarding lead paint and asbestos and today I’m sharing them.
Now I feel compelled to give the disclaimer that obviously I’m no expert on toxic household substances, and the internet can advise you not to do these things yourself (the DIY we’re doing is legal, by the way). And yet, all the sub-groups that visited our guest cottage gave us exactly the same advice where we could easily save by doing it ourselves and it would be just as good/safe as if they did it themselves. So this is all anecdotal, and I’m not taking any legal responsibility because I’m not giving any advice here, just telling you what I learned and what we’re thinking about doing.
Asbestos – how much do we have and how much will it cost
The good news was that our house is so old there’s no insulation, there’s usually a ton of asbestos in there. Our inspection report indicated that there may be asbestos in the linoleum floor (which is over the original wood that we plan to remodel in the main room) as well as the ducting near the stove (about 12 feet). So this is pretty much the minimum. But still, I would never have thought of doing asbestos abatement myself (keep reading). I had three abatement companies come, do an inspection and submit quotations.
Company A – John
The first company came in at $7,130. About $4k to remove asbestos from the floor and $2,250 for ducting, then lots of prep and legal fees. Obviously, I didn’t like this quote, but having never done this before, I didn’t know if it was the market rate or not. Thank God I kept getting quotes.
Company B – Lyon
This company asked us if we wanted to get asbestos and lead levels tested, which cost $450 in lab tests (we didn’t know the cost when I agreed, oops). Although it seems like a lot, he recommended it because he wasn’t sure it was under the linoleum. Turns out the floors came back negative for asbestos!!! Incredible. The cost to them to remove it in the ducting was only $995! However, they said there was asbestos around all the knobs and tube wiring, which would cost them $1,595 to remove. But he was very clear that we can do this ourselves and most people don’t hire for this (more on that below). But if we just did the ducting, it would be $995.
Company C – Barry
At this point, knowing that the flooring was not asbestos, I asked Barry for a quote only for the ducting. They came back to Leon at $1,782 for the same work (though Leon charged $450 in lab fees, and I’m assuming they made some money off of it).
Our decision for asbestos abatement and what we are going to do ourselves
I think it’s pretty obvious that we went with Leon, Company B, at $995 (having already spent $450 on testing labs), and then he told me how to safely get rid of the knob and tube that had asbestos all over it, so we could save that $1,595. He said to wear full PPE (hazmat suit, mask, etc.), spray it with water from a spray bottle to stabilize it (and reduce the chance of loose fibers/particles), clip it with clippers and throw it in a bag. Now, I need to see where I legally dump it, but he said it’s pretty much DIY-able, and most people do it themselves.
buy lead paint commented at
An interesting and horrifying historical fact about lead paint that is no joke. Banned in the late 70’s, most paint before that contained a good amount of lead (which made it durable), but lead is leadIt is poisonous in every way. But I think they also realized that it could be so toxic especially to children’s brain development, because kids were gnawing on the window sills and eating the paint stuck to the window sills from the floor, because lead paint is weirdly sweet. What???? But most homes built before the 1970s likely have lead paint under the fresh paint, but it is universally accepted that it is only dangerous if it is “perturbed” (i.e. flaking off), breathing in the dust directly, eating pieces of it, or getting into water/soil (which is why you don’t sand it down – it actually makes it more dangerous). Again, I’m not giving advice here, just passing on my research (which included extensive internet searching and asking like 6 contractors/experts I know with a lot of knowledge and experience). We are finishing it safely and legally, don’t worry.
Where is the lead?
The good news is that we don’t have a lot of paint in our house. Most of the rooms are wood paneled or simply have exposed beams. So it’s mostly the stairs and the room above (and the prop room floor). If it was on a bunch of old gross drywall, we could remove it and just replace it, but since it’s all on nice wood paneling, we’re not demoing it out.
The first and only citation for lead paint abatement
Company B (same as above, Lyon) gave me interesting information. He said that sometimes in these really old houses, they couldn’t afford lead paint (it was fancier, more durable paint back then), and there was a possibility that there wasn’t enough lead in the paint to worry about. They tested it in a lab (which is included in the same $450 fee above), and it found twice the legal amount, which really isn’t that much (the legal amount is 5000 ppm, ours was 10 thousand ppm – parts per million). This is pretty much the minimum. They also reminded me of what the Internet had told me – that lead is really only dangerous when ingested directly by breathing in the dust, flake, or eating it. Leon said we could totally do it ourselves, but he gave me the quote anyway. They quoted $4,495 to stabilize and prime all the lead paint.
I asked Leon several times how he would do it compared to a typical DIY homeowner, and he said the process was exactly the same. You dress up in PPE, then “stabilize” it by scraping off any loose paint, perhaps sanding with a block sander, then prime over it to seal it. So we will do exactly the same process; He’ll obviously be faster at it, but it’s not highly skilled work and doesn’t require fancy equipment. He honestly thought we should do it ourselves and save $4,495. I agree with Leon 🙂
Total cost if we rented for lead and asbestos
If we had first hired the asbestos removal guy ($7,130), added on the knob and tube asbestos removal (which he did not bid on but Leon did at $1,595), and then the removal of lead paint ($4,495) and the $450 testing fee, we would have been on the hook. $13,670.
total cost we are paying
We are hiring Leon to remove ducting asbestos for only $995 + already incurred lab fees =. $1,445We will (safely) do the work to stabilize the lead paint and do the knob and tube abatement on our own, and we are very glad we got multiple quotes rather than hiring the first company that assumed the floors contained asbestos without testing. Now, of course, there will be some purchasing of supplies (PPE, spray bottles, scrapers, primers, etc.), but very little, we hope. Plus, it’s not something I would let my team help with just because I feel a little weird being exposed to known toxins, even if we’re protected with PPE. So they’ll help film an intro and set up a time-lapse and then begin (I mean, filming is a pretty boring thing anyway).
Next up are Foundation Quotes, which are back with some very good news, thank God. I’m waiting for one more before I compare them all and show you what we’re up to.
If anyone has experience doing any of these projects themselves and can offer any suggestions, let me know in the comments!
*photo by Caitlin Green
