Eric and I were so excited to become homeowners last fall. Home ownership has always been a huge goal for us, so when it finally happened—after years of thinking it was just a distant dream—we were absolutely thrilled.
When we bought this two-bedroom house, we knew it would be too small for us once we started expanding our family. But by purchasing a smaller house within our price range, we would still be able to save a lot every month. And we planned to save enough after three or four years to build a third-bedroom addition.
Well, it’s crazy how quickly plans can change.
In beginning work on our second bedroom, which we plan to make the nursery, we found asbestos underneath the floor (we were planning to redo the floor) and in the closet ceiling. Asbetos is fine if left undisturbed, but if you start doing work and shift it on accident, then the fibers (which are cancerous) can get into the air—and it’s a very bad situation.
Access to the attic is through the closet ceiling in the second bedroom and since we just had AC installed and the workers were going up and down that entrance a lot—the chances that the fibers had been disturbed were very high.
This—combined with the fact that our new offspring would be living in this room—led us to go ahead and call the professionals to remove asbestos from the second bedroom. So what was originally a $700 budgeted project, quickly became almost $3K with asbestos removal.
Talk about BUMMER—this was not good news at all, especially with everything else we need to buy for the baby and that every single house project we do—no matter how well we budget for it—seems to go over 50%. We just keep finding issues because of how old our house is.
At this point—I don’t want to do any more giant renovations on the house. I’d rather accept the fact that is a really good starter home with a comfortable mortgage that lets us save a good chunk of our income, rather than keep putting money into it.
The good news is that our house has already increased about $10K in value since we bought it, so hopefully in several years it will increase enough that we can move on to a bigger place where we CAN make it into our dream home–or who knows, maybe by then we’ll actually be able to afford a place that already comes with everything?!
I could just be freaking out about this asbestos thing, but still.
10 comments
HI Buddy,
Very Nice Post. Thanx for sharing.
What I learned over the next few days about asbestos both scared me and re-assured me. Now that our home is officially asbestos-free and we’ve finally moved back into the house, I’m emotionally ready to share with you what I learned.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), asbestos-containing materials reside in many of the approximately 132,000 primary and secondary schools in the nation.
It’s sad how problems always seem to stack up like they did with your house. Asbestos is not a fun thing to deal with, especially when getting a room ready for a newborn baby. Even though the price was way higher than you had anticipated, it’s a good thing you got the asbestos removed before the problem escalated further. I’m sorry you had that experience, but thank you for sharing it.
Oh, that sure must have been pretty scary to have found signs of asbestos in a room, especially if that room is to be reserved for a child. I know that something like this is what’s also happening in my sister’s home. So far, her husband and I are searching for someone to do the asbestos removal around her kid’s bathroom.
The last time it rained heavily here in my hometown of San Angelo, Texas was about 3 weeks ago. From that weather things started to take a toll and it all began with floor of my basement. Fortunately for us we were able to contact a restoration company to prevent the floor and carpet of the room from getting really wet.
Congrats! It feels great when the major item in the list has been achieved. This is a good start and having a two-bedroom house is all that you need. It’s worth it as long as it meets your family needs. Hope you posted a picture of your house. Good luck!
Ugh, that sucks about the renovation! But just think! Removing the asbestos will increase value as well. I can say though, building a home is a lot of fun!
Oh no, that is the worst! My fiancé and I just bought a 20 year old home and its age does make me a little nervous, but it’s our first home and it is what we could afford.
Interesting. You’d think that homes built before a certain date would have to have asbestos checked as part of a home inspection or something that the lender would want to see before approving the loan. And now that you know it was in the second bedroom, are you required to disclose that it may be present if you sell it down the line?
All part of owning an older home! Good luck.
Major ugh my friend. Seriously. Asbestos is one of those words you never want to hear during a home remodel. Right up there with mold and termites. What a nightmare. Hopefully things get back on track for you soon!
I understand you, I was visiting new construction but the room size are small also for a smurf so I think is better old house to renovate but is true renovation works are always a big? you can find a lot of things and not always good!!! however I hope everything will go well!!!