Meet Melissa. She sure looks cheerful. Melissa works at a lab where they do asbestos testing. She's holding samples from our house in one hand, and our testing application in the other.
We had several materials that were...suspicious. The insulation in the attic was scary, since there is LOTS of it and it flies all over the place. And, I've been spending a lot of time in the attic. Breathing. Wearing a flimsy little mask, but breathing nonetheless.
I won't go into all the details but we heard back from Melissa within 24 hours that we do indeed have asbestos in our house. Darn it. Fortunately, it's not in the attic insulation. It's in the linoleum tiles downstairs AND in the mastic that helps them stick to the floor.
I've started making progress on getting the floor tiles up. Unfortunately, I have no idea how to get rid of the mastic. That's the black stuff you see under the tiles. It's a concrete floor that's thoroughly covered with mastic.
Oh, and you might notice the burgundy trim where the wall meets the floor. That's carpet. Yes, burgundy carpet used to cover this whole area and wrap up the walls. Because you just can't have enough burgundy carpet.
On a more positive note, the bluebells are up in great profusion and the flowering trees in the yard add clouds of glorious color and perfume. Spring is really here, making it hard to be anything but hopeful.
I plan to stay positive at least until we find out what it will cost to remove the mastic. We'll see how that goes, and I'll keep you posted.
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