Asbestos :(

[mrsdee1982]

I am so unhappy right now!

Our a/c broke, and this past weekend it was in the high 90's, and for the rest of the foreseeable future it will be in the high 80's, so I had DH get someone to come out to fix the a/c today.

They found asbestos in the ducts (even though our home inspection cleared the ducts as safe).  So we have to have the asbestos removed, all of the air ducts replaced and the a/c unit and the heater unit need to be replaced too.  

The quote for all of this - $13,000!!!!!   And, we have to have it done before the baby comes, as the inspector told us the asbestos in the ducts has been disturbed, so it's not safe to bring a baby into the home until it's fixed.  Oh, and the inspector today told us that it looks like the previous owners tried to wrap the asbestos in a liner to try and hide it.  Shady ass mutherfuckers!  

We're getting a few other quotes, but as of right now, it looks like we have to figure out a way to pull $13,000 out of our butts in the next week or so.  Awesome.  Is there a good market for high priced, massively pregnant call girls?  I mean, how else are we going to pull $13,000 out of thin (Asbestos riddled) air?  

If anyone needs me, I'll be hiding under my desk, crying and eating chocolate.  

[sapphyre0702]

You may be able to make a claim against the home inspector or the previous owners for either negligence or misrepresentations. Probably not going to get the $$ quickly but you never know. Also, give your homeowners carrier a quick call - it is not likely covered but they may have some other ideas.

[islandgirl14]

Ohhh man! That totally sucks, I'm so sorry!! We had asbestos underneath one of our floors that we had to have professionally removed during our remodel, so I can sympathize with the cost and process of having it done. We weren't at the same price point, but having it removed (and then all the subsequent work) is pricey as heck!! So sorry!!!

[ladysif]

That is super shady of previous owners, and shitty the inspector didn't catch it. I'm sorry. If I could make chocolate appear in front of you right now, I would.

[mrsdee1982]

I talked to a lawyer friend of mine about going after the inspector already. They said our claim most likely wouldn't hold up, since the way the report is worded, and the fact that the asbestos was "hidden" from plain view.

And we can't go after the previous owners, as we cannot prove they were the ones to hide it (even though they were super shady with many other things, so I don't doubt for a second that it was them) and they moved out of the country and now live in Ireland.

But contacting our homeowners insurance is a good idea. Worst thing they could do is tell us there is nothing they can do, right?

[tiffbot]

Oh wow, I'm so sorry you guys have to deal with this now. It's certainly an expensive fix, but maybe a blessing in disguise?

[mrsdee1982]

@demanda88, yeah, I told DH to not mention the baby to the next company he gets a quote from to see if that makes a difference.

Ugh, these previous homeowners are just awful people! They did so many shady ass things during the sale, we almost lost the house twice due to their bull shit. And whats worse, is all of the neighbors around here talk about them as if they were gods! If only the neighbors knew how shady they were.

[mrsdee1982]

@demanda88, it was a short sale, so no warranty

[kemdupuis]

Ugh. That sucks. I have heard that Asbestos abatement can be very costly. I am hoping you guys can find someone that can take care of it for you for cheaper. Asbestos is scary stuff! Be careful!

[leenziepops]

Oh crapola. I'm so sorry. What a crappy situation

[Widget123]

Dislike. No additional advice, just my sympathies

[mrskblack11]

From all of the HGTV shows I have watched 13k seems like a bit high. I feel like they always get quote between 6-10K but I really can't trust my pregnancy brain.

That is a total buzz kill.

[PurpleIris]

Damn, that sucks! Hopefully as second quote will be more reasonable. Sorry you're dealing with this.

[bendherova]

well poop. I'm sorry.

[belle0720]

Sorry you're dealing with this! On the bright side, it's a good thing that you discovered it before bringing baby home.

I hope you're able to find someone to do it for cheaper!

[mrsdee1982]

Mar 17, 2015 15:50:06 GMT -5 mrskblack11 said:

From all of the HGTV shows I have watched 13k seems like a bit high. I feel like they always get quote between 6-10K but I really can't trust my pregnancy brain.

That is a total buzz kill.

One of my first thoughts was "We need to get the Property Brothers on this, STAT!"

[alayne926]

Oh how horrible. So sorry that you're having to deal with this.

[fuccimama]

Hope you can find a company to do it significantly cheaper and do a good job at the same time!

[trixi282]

That really sucks - as long as it's undisturbed it isn't a problem, but it sounds like you have a few factors here that are making it a problem!

Definitely get at least 2 more quotes before you do anything - that seems really high - although you're not just dealing with the abatement, you're also talking about redoing duct work and replacing units too which is costly.

Insurance likely won't do anything for it, but you could look into a home improvement or personal loan for the money. There are some really good low interest rates right now.

So sorry you have to deal with this!

[fuccimama]

Try a gofundme.com account!

[Bluedaisy]

I'm sorry you're stuck dealing with this. Is there any way your home insurance will help out?

[wormgerm]

I'm sorry. That super sucks. I was bummed we unexpectedly had to drop $1000 on a plumber snaking/camera peeking/jetting our driveway drain today. Turns out our fairly new driveway has a poorly constructed drain route that essentially forms a bowl to collect debris between the house and drain. Boo expensive home repairs.

[tjanca22]

Houses can be the worst! I'm sorry you got hit with bad news today and that you're dealing with this.

[tahitiandreamin]

That sucks! Seriously, massively sucks! It seems like there must be some stupid unwritten rule in the universe - I'm going to call it the "Let's see what we can do to the poor people expecting babies soon" rule. I swear life throws far more at you when you are expecting a little one and trying to get ready for leave and additional expenses. I hope that things work out with your insurance!

[holliberry28]

Ugh, I totally feel your pain! After we closed on our apartment in December and were getting ready to do renovation, they found out under the carpeting, there were asbestos vinyl tiles. We also ended up having to shell out 15,000 At least your found it now, and not when you have a newborn to take care of. Sorry this happened to you, it totally sucks!

[wink568]

I'd get at least three bids. I second that the cost seems to be high, since the most recent abatement I've been involved with in a commercial building was about the same price. Typically commercial repairs end up being a lot more than a home, and the fact that we're in a major city automatically drives up costs, not to mention it'd a lot harder to safely exhaust it from a commercial building. It may have been less work as it was insulation on the outside of a large piece of equipment as opposed to inside ducts, but it still seems a lot for a home repair.

Also, if you go through a home repair store like Home Depot or something, you may be able to get a great financing deal using their card. They have certain preferred subcontractors they pay to do the work, so even though you're going through a chain you're still getting a contractor that knows what they're doing. I'm not sure if there's a limit to the type of services they provide that may get in the way of ACM abatement, as I've only gone through them for furnace/duct replacements so far.