David and I have been carefully setting aside small sums of money each month to be able to soon afford removing our popcorn ceilings and repainting the interior of our house. One of the sticking points on this project is the question of asbestos. Our house was built in the early 1970s- before asbestos’ damaging effects on the human respiratory system was known. Not all homes built during this time used it, but some did. I have done some extensive research online as to what we ought to do. You can get the popcorn tested at a center for around $25, but beyond that most sites had conflicting information. Sometimes even calling the same center different days (spoke with different people) resulted in different answers. Was it safe to remove the sample for testing ourselves? Do you need multiple samples or just one? If multiple samples where do you decide to sample? If there is confirmed asbestos do we need to report it? Isn’t there just a way to find- I mean somebody built this house isn’t it documented somewhere? Etc. You get the picture.
Yesterday I was chatting about home improvements with my neighbor. It just so happens that we own essentially identical homes (her floor plan is a mirror of our home’s). She stated that she had removed one of the room’s popcorn ceiling, but was debating on doing the rest of the house because asbestos removal is expensive. Asbestos? Yes, she informed me. Our house as well as the neighboring houses that were all build around the same time contain asbestos.
The moral of the story is that sometimes when you have a question it doesn’t need to cost you hours of research and $25…just go ask your neighbor.