Doug Carpenter
11-30-2010, 7:59 AM
So I hate to be the victim of drive by media nonsense but here goes.
This morning my homepage has an article on the deadly ritual of getting your christmas decorations down from the attic.
I have a ranch house built in the late fifties. Most of my attic was insulated with what I describe as scardboard dust. It is really nasty stuff. I have removed 80% of when ever I had a slow schedule and the desire. I would just shovel it out and shopvac the bays clean and then reinsulate.
The part I am worried about is the area above the garage. My shop. That is vermiculite. For the most part it is under the plywood decking of the attic but I have encountered it many time over the last 11 years that I have owned this house. Not to mention the fact that we store tons of stuff in the attic. it is 1900 square feet of easily accessed space.
It is really dusty up there mostly (I hope) from the cardboard dust insulation but I worry that my family has been exposed to harmfull toxins.
This morning I am sure that it is too late for me. I have been exposed many times while remodeling this house.
The question becomes, "what would you do"?
The kids enjoy going up there and going though things. The cat dashes up there everytime the ladder is open and probrably get covered in it and then comes down and rubs himself all over us.
Certainly I can stop the kids but it isn't practical to expect it can sit there for years undisturbed.
If I have it tested and it has no asbestos I would feel better but if is has asbestos then it becomes a two part problem. One I can't afford to have it removed by some eco friendly costly pro. And I would have to disclose it to potential buyers.
To make matters worse I have developed asthma in the last year. I went to see an allergist / asthma specialist and found out I am alergic to dust mites. He attributes the breathing trouble to the allergy but this morning I am in a panic that maybe when you add ten years of living here to my twenty years of remodeling professionally you get a different problem alltogether.
This morning my homepage has an article on the deadly ritual of getting your christmas decorations down from the attic.
I have a ranch house built in the late fifties. Most of my attic was insulated with what I describe as scardboard dust. It is really nasty stuff. I have removed 80% of when ever I had a slow schedule and the desire. I would just shovel it out and shopvac the bays clean and then reinsulate.
The part I am worried about is the area above the garage. My shop. That is vermiculite. For the most part it is under the plywood decking of the attic but I have encountered it many time over the last 11 years that I have owned this house. Not to mention the fact that we store tons of stuff in the attic. it is 1900 square feet of easily accessed space.
It is really dusty up there mostly (I hope) from the cardboard dust insulation but I worry that my family has been exposed to harmfull toxins.
This morning I am sure that it is too late for me. I have been exposed many times while remodeling this house.
The question becomes, "what would you do"?
The kids enjoy going up there and going though things. The cat dashes up there everytime the ladder is open and probrably get covered in it and then comes down and rubs himself all over us.
Certainly I can stop the kids but it isn't practical to expect it can sit there for years undisturbed.
If I have it tested and it has no asbestos I would feel better but if is has asbestos then it becomes a two part problem. One I can't afford to have it removed by some eco friendly costly pro. And I would have to disclose it to potential buyers.
To make matters worse I have developed asthma in the last year. I went to see an allergist / asthma specialist and found out I am alergic to dust mites. He attributes the breathing trouble to the allergy but this morning I am in a panic that maybe when you add ten years of living here to my twenty years of remodeling professionally you get a different problem alltogether.