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Asbestos question...

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brucewo1b
brucewo1b Member Posts: 638
in THE MAIN WALL
he probably perks coffee on a gridle and does flap jacks in his tea pot.

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  • Unknown
    Unknown
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    Insulating exposed pipe

    You may or may not have been following the story of Granny's steam boiler where we find the pipe is missing at least 50% of it's insulation all near the boiler. Now, understand, granny won't let me service her boiler because I live too far away, so she's drifted from company to comapny trying to solve, what turns out to be, a simple problem. So, the "man" comes out to service her furnace last week and my aunt, who lives with granny, asks him why noone ever considered the missing insulation to be a potential source of the problem. He tells her it's because there's already some existing asbestos insulation on other portions of the pipe so they can't touch it and it would all have to be removed and the whole system reinsulated new. Now, I'm not aware of any such rule and I think the "man" is full of, well, you know. I think as long as you're not disturbing any of the existing insulation you can replace what's missing without having to get into the removal part. What do you think? Oh, interesting side note, Granny turned 98 last December and has lived in this house for 40 years. No apparent ill effects from the asbestos exposure I'd say. We should ALL live to be 98 and be in just as good shape as she's in.
  • Scram Bulleggs
    Scram Bulleggs Member Posts: 12
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    Fear

    Some jobs are better to stay away from.
  • Unknown
    Unknown
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    aaarrgggghhhhh!

    MPF, you called your granny's boiler a FURNACE !?!
  • Unknown
    Unknown
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    OMG!! Flog me PLEASE!! It's her fault, she keeps calling it a furnace too,,,that's my story and I'm sticking to it! LOL...
  • John_102
    John_102 Member Posts: 119
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    In fairness,

    sounds like a quote from the dear lady to me. To most consumers, the thing in the basement that heats the house is a furnace. That is a measure of how much work is out there. When I claim superior comfort from my (steam) boiler, people shake their heads & chuckle at my delusion.
  • Unknown
    Unknown
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    Shhhh, nobody is supposed to know!!

    Believe me, I gave up trying to explain to them it's a boiler not a furnace years ago. ;)

    Nobody else has input on the asbestos question here?
  • Keith_8
    Keith_8 Member Posts: 399
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    liability issue

    Chances are the ends of the asbestos insulation that is remaining are not sealed.

    If this is the case, the proper way to handle this would be to have the remaining asbestos abated and then reinsulate.

    No legitimate company would touch this any other way.

    Keith
  • Unknown
    Unknown
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    You're right, the ends are open. It's the old corrugated kind. I've always gone by the "rule of thumb" that if you don't disturb the existing stuff you're ok. Geez, I've come to hate that stuff over the years. Especially in the sue crazy society we live in today. I'll advise granny and see what happens. At their age they're not all that interested in spending any big money on the house if they don't have to.

    Besides, ok, you need to abate and reinsulate to fix the boiler problem, WHY has noone ever mentioned this before? Were they all keeping it a secret? There's a lotta guys missing the boat out there, I can tell you that.

    I'll be taking this all to heart next time I come across a similar situation. The last thing I need is a lawyer or two riding my *** !
  • Unknown
    Unknown
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    Interesting link

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wittenoom,_Western_Australia
  • Tony_30
    Tony_30 Member Posts: 9
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    Asbestos removal

    Could you have the ends of the existing insulation sealed and then replace what is missing?
  • Unknown
    Unknown
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    That would be my thought but I'm going to check with my local asbestos people and see what they have to say. Last I knew the homeowner could spray any sort of laquer on exposed asbestos to "encapsulate" it. My plan was to do just that and not butt the new up against the old leaving say 1/2" between them. In this case I'd be acting as her grandson not her contractor. Again, I'm going to check with the locals before I go any further.
  • keith
    keith Member Posts: 224
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    timing

    Now your talking, have a qualified abatement company quote the removal. Money well spent to clean up the house. New pipe insulation will make a nice appearance.

    The contractor might even be a little flexible about his pricing if you are flexible on his scheduling.

    Keith
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