So in this post we enter the interesting and educational world of environmental assessments. Or as I refer to it, as going down the rabbit hole, as I have to admit I feel a bit like Alice in Wonderland. As mentionned in my previous post Asbestos, Mould and Rats – Oh My!, we discovered we had asbestos in the drywall mud in the basement and a mould issue due to an ongoing leak in the bathroom. In Demolition Day – the Acorn Mystery, we also discovered we had other areas of moisture and potential mould concerns in the basement. In order to ensure we address any other potential health hazards in the house, we decided to get the house thoroughly checked out and see how sick it actually is. The poor house is now coughing and spitting with me. The process we are about to embark on is a very interesting one, yet has the potential of opening up a big black hole to a never ending abyss!

So we start the journey down the rabbit hole by first hiring an environmental company to come in and test numerous surfaces in the house to identify potential hazardous substances such as: asbestos-containing material, lead, mercury, polychlorinated biphenyls, crystalline silica, ozone depleting substances, radioactive materials, mould, and flammable or explosive materials. Ok my head is spinning now. I don’t even know what half of these things are. Hence our continued educational experience. This is definitely much more thorough than I was expecting. Now is just the fear of what they are going to find and what that means for our renovations. I think we picked the most problematic house for our first learning experience. Not sure this is what we signed up for. Well I guess it is since here we are.

When the assessment company came in they took small samples from wall, flooring and ceiling finishes throughout the house upstairs and downstairs. Leaving little red tape pieces, like sun kissed freckles, around the house where samples were taken. Not a lengthy process, but also not a cheap one. Fingers crossed as we sit and wait for the results and report.

We received the report within a few days, and I have to admit I had to read the crazy thing about ten times before I actually understood what we were dealing with. Not only did we learn what potential hazards are in the house, but we also learned about all the array of building products our house has been constructed with. The learning continues!

So what did the report tell us? Well instead of going through the whole list discussed above, I will tell you only four of the items came back as positive. That sounds positive right? Well let’s just hold on a bit and explain what was found. The main finding is that we have asbestos in pretty much all the drywall mudding compound in the house, walls and ceilings, as well as in some of the lino in the bath and kitchen upstairs. For those who are not familiar with asbestos, Asbestos is a fibrous mineral that was used in many products in building houses up until the 1990’s. It was mostly used in insulation, but can also be found in mudding compounds, ceiling and floor tiles, lino, plaster, and stippled ceilings, just to name a few. If the asbestos is disturbed the fibres enter the air and can be inhaled. If people are exposed to high concentrations it can cause lung disease and cancer. The only way to determine if you have asbestos containing materials is to have them tested. The product has sinced been banned in construction, and if disturbed should be managed in a specific way and disposed of as you would toxic waste. There are many guidelines on how this should be handled. Should you encounter this product, please contact your local environmental regulations and waste disposal sites for safe handling and disposal guidelines.

Next… more mould was identified in the basement. Now there are different kinds of mould. But the main one to concern yourself with is black mould. Sadly this is the kind that has been discovered. If black mould is inhaled it can be very hazardous impacting breathing, coughing, and lung issues. Fortunately the mould does not appear to be significant at this moment, but more on this fun story later as there is more than meets the eye! Just for a little suspense… this one becomes part of the horror of this story.

There is crystalline silica in the foundation concrete. Ok this one I had to google and ask more information about. For those of you still keeping your lessons learned notes, here you go. Apparently it is a basic compound in soils and minerals used in products like concrete. If chipped away it can lead to particle sizes that can be inhaled and exposure over periods of time can cause breathing issues, lung disease and silicosis. Fortunately we have no plans on disturbing the concrete.

Finally the discovery of mercury. Now this one is interesting as they found mercury in some lights and our thermostat. The report recommended removal and proper disposal. Makes sense. What doesn’t make sense… they actually took the mercury piece from our thermostat. Making the thermostat useless. Huh? Do they not understand that was the link to heating our house? In the winter? So when we arrived after their assessment we discovered we now have a house without heat. What were they thinking?

The other learning from the report that was quite interesting and somewhat scary was finding out the different products used in the construction of our house. As previously mentioned we believe the house was built around the 1950’s with an addition done in the 70’s. So now here is where these items become important. It appears our ceilings and walls on the older part of the house are plaster and lath versus drywall…. huh? Once again google has come in handy. In the 50’s they used plaster over little wooden planks to cover walls and ceilings instead of drywall. We also discovered that we have flooring upon flooring. So there are original vinyl tiles in place (asbestos free thankfully) with yellow lino on top (sadly with asbestos)… oh yay… and then the final lino layer on top, just to make sure we have enough. Ugggg! Head spinning again. So I have to admit, I am not sure my 10,000 hours of HGTV has prepped me for all of this, or what is still to come. As I am afraid to say that after receiving all the results we have decided the best course of action is to start taking out and opening up more walls and ceilings than originally planned. We now plan to open up the entire basement as we need to get access to the foundation walls and the utilities. This would require about 50% of the walls and ceilings to be removed by a professional due to the asbestos containing material. Therefore we will remove it all while they are there and see exactly what we are dealing with.

Stay tuned for the next post on the remediation activities, as I do believe we are about to enter deeper into the rabbit hole, or is it a never ending black abyss? I am not quite sure. Sadly I feel as though the happy ending I keep promising is a long way away. But stay with me as we continue into the world of Wonderland. My husband has now appropriately named himself the Mad Hatter. Hopefully he doesn’t actually go mad during this experience. I will stay with Alice as I am hoping this is all a dream. What’s that in the distance… a large grin… is that the Cheshire Cat laughing mockingly at us?