To start the remodeling of This Odd House, I had followed all of the dependencies to this single initial requirement: remove the old boiler and the asbestos-wrapped heating pipes emanating from it.
One of the HVAC contractors I contacted offered his associate’s services for asbestos abatement. I met them and toured the basement plumbing. The old boiler could have asbestos in it, containment procedures would need to be followed as it was removed. The pipes would need to be “glove-bagged”, sealed, cut, and removed in sections. All in all, they could do it for $5000.
So, another prerequisite: find $5k above and beyond the new heating system expense. I now started to wonder if my friends were right when they recommended “run away, run away” from This Odd House.
Asbestos is a wonderful, scary material. I had positive opinions of it a few decades ago when I donned asbestos gloves to place fuel directly into a woodburning stove in a North Woods cabin. Complete fire protection– I was impervious!
But the high incidence of mesothelioma and other lung diseases in asbestos mining towns (1.4% !) eventually resulted in banning the material. I always thought it was lengthy, repeated, close exposure that was the risk factor (like tobacco, a cigarette would not kill you 30 years later, but 30 years of cigarettes might). The abatement procedures are regulated by the state health department and asbestos workers are licensed and trained. I am skeptical that a single exposure puts me at much of a risk, but I can believe that the abatement workers might be.
As an example, air samples are taken before and after the removal. If the after test exceeds standard limits, the site must be scrubbed again (and a fine is issued). All asbestos is bagged or sealed, and it is registered with the disposal destination in a manifest. We know where every piece of asbestos that has been removed from the basements of Minneapolis currently resides!
At the end of the removal, and in the event of an accident, the workers must shower. This is done in a portable decontamination chamber where the water is retained– it must not end up in the city water drains. Instead, it is taken back to a facility where it is processed by three stages of filters to remove the microscopic particles.
My friends may still be right about This Odd House, but Angie’s List is my friend too. I looked up several abatement companies that were local, and highly rated, and invited them to bid the job. It was refreshing to hear them declare that the boiler itself had no asbestos, it contained fiberglass; no special containment procedures would be needed.
Only the pipes needed special handling. I learned that glove-bagging (enclosing the pipe in loose plastic to allow a gloved knife-wielding hand to cut away the asbestos) was limited to 25 feet of pipe per room per year. An interesting spec. My pipes qualified, just.
I don’t usually go with the lowest bidder, but in this case, after learning about the procedures, air testing, licensing, and overall experience and knowledge of the abatement company, I did. And I will be confident and pleased at the asbestos-free basement I will end up with, at a third the cost of the original scary asbestos estimate.