asbestos removal by homeowner

We just got a $49,000 bid for removing asbestos. Cursory searching on the Internet suggests that it may be legal for us to do the work ourselves. Although maybe not: the house has been empty for five years or more, was lived in as a single family before that, but is listed by the tax people as 2-family. No COO. Any advice?

Guest User | 4 years and 2 months ago

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Guest User | 4 years and 1 month ago

string(1) "3"
string(6) "200749"

Is that the going rate now? I was quoted $2000 but only for one floor some years ago.

Guest User | 4 years and 1 month ago

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Update: asbestos abatement (including air monitoring by a 3rd party) ending up costing j just under $27,000, not $49,000. The asbestos removal was done by At Work Environmental; I recommend them highly.

We did get a fourth lower bid, but it came in too late and also my daughter, who showed them the house, described them as “confused”.

hkapstein | 4 years and 1 month ago

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Well if you don’t like my posts, then don’t “like” them.

andriywww1990 | 4 years and 1 month ago

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they have a like button to show consensus.

hkapstein | 4 years and 1 month ago

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I guess I think it’s useful for readers to see multiple people post similar ideas. It helps show when there’s a consensus, and often what I’m looking for when I read these threads myself.

andriywww1990 | 4 years and 2 months ago

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DIBS: you sound like a better money man than i but can we agree that 49 k sounds quite extensive?

daveinbedstuy | 4 years and 2 months ago

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Without knowing exactly the extent of the OP’s asbestos, all these comments are moot.

andriywww1990 | 4 years and 2 months ago

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urbandad, when you come into something like this after being on vacation or in the county lock up for two weeks, it would help if you read what others have said. maggie or someone basically brought up all you have just said.

hkapstein | 4 years and 2 months ago

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I mean it’s hard to say, but it sounds like 49k, even if it’s an inflated bid, represents a large amount of asbestos containing materials. How would you dispose of it, and how would you protect yourself and your neighbors from the dust? I’d shop it and get a better quote, but if you’re talking about DIY removing a lot of asbestos you better make sure you know what you’re doing.

Lurker | 4 years and 2 months ago

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So Ithaca: where’s your asbestos. In the walls, pipe, popcorn ceiling , floor tiles, window caulk, or what? How much is friable, how much can you encapsulate, how much would be disturbed by necessary work?

Guest User | 4 years and 2 months ago

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@lurker it seems like we both looked at the price-tag and headed in different directions in thinking about the amount of asbestos the OP is dealing with. if someone is getting an estimate of $49k for 30 feet of pipe insulation that’s a contractor trying to screw them. it sucks that the regulations are onerous and don’t allow for the reality that different types of ACM have very different levels of environmental hazard (due to how they break down). it sucks that this then causes people to completely disregard the regulations and act in ways that may be harmful to their own or others health. in my work i have on several occasions been responsible for helping people calm down a bit about the presence of non-friable asbestos, or encouraging folks to not feel they need to wear hazmat suits for a week after abatement work is completed, but in those cases i know the materials i’m dealing with and can address them realistically. without any sense of what the OP is actually looking at (floor tile? roofing? caulk? insulation? plaster? gaskets?) it seemed best to address it with greater caution – get some competing bids – rather than to find someone who would agree to just glove/bag it and legally dispose of it. since OP is asking whether they could do the work without a contractor at all and just find a way to dispose of it even more caution is warranted to make sure they are adequately protecting themselves and their investment.

Lurker | 4 years and 2 months ago

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Take it easy Maggie. I said hire a company that does removal who will then properly dispose of it and give you the paperwork from a site that accepts asbestos waste. If this person has a house lousy with asbestos everywhere then sure it’s an issue. But if you have 30 feet of pipe asbestos then calling it 22 and getting it disposed of properly it’s not by any reasonable assessment an issue. That is precisely the situation our friends dealt with and the solution was proposed by an asbestos abatement company—it is completely common and not de facto unsafe, and no asbestos company is going to risk their license and fines dumping stuff on a street corner.

To be clear, I agree asbestos can be dangerous. But please put a little context here. In other states like California it is completely legal for owners to take it down and chuck it in the garbage. NYC’s laws take a one-size-fits all industrial approach that is onerous and so encourages breaking of the law.

andriywww1990 | 4 years and 2 months ago

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Over here they dump it on the west side of juniper valley park. They better hope i move from here when i retire or i will sit there at night photgraphing them all. Think globally; act locally.

Guest User | 4 years and 2 months ago

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@doorsbythetinkerswagon – they might also be the type to drive it around in the back of a truck in the wee hours of the morning looking for someone else’s roomy construction dumpster they can empty their waste into.

Guest User | 4 years and 2 months ago

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@doorsbythetinkerswagon – they might also be the type to drive it around in the back of a truck in the wee hours of the morning looking for someone else’s roomy construction dumpster they can empty their waste into.

JohnHancock | 4 years and 2 months ago

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Highway? Probably on just any random corner dumpingspot nearby, I mean, who’s checking? If it’s so expensive you invite people to do it “their” way. Better to have a program with oversight

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    ["subscriber"]=>
    bool(true)
  }
  ["filter"]=>
  NULL
  ["site_id":"WP_User":private]=>
  int(1)
}

And someone who breaks these laws might toss this stuff on the side of a highway.

Guest User | 4 years and 2 months ago

string(1) "3"
string(6) "195579"

@lurker – the intent of the asbestos laws are to protect owners, occupants, neighbors, and workers – if that means negative air flow, on site showers, hourly air testing, etc., so be it. Without knowing what kind of asbestos the OP is talking about I find your assessment of the bid they received as “insanity” to be confusing.
The other option to consider is whether any of the ACM could be encapsulated rather than removed as that would certainly be cheaper.

Guest User | 4 years and 2 months ago

string(1) "3"
string(6) "195579"

@lurker – the intent of the asbestos laws are to protect owners, occupants, neighbors, and workers – if that means negative air flow, on site showers, hourly air testing, etc., so be it. Without knowing what kind of asbestos the OP is talking about I find your assessment of the bid they received as “insanity” to be confusing.
The other option to consider is whether any of the ACM could be encapsulated rather than removed as that would certainly be cheaper.