Popped over to the place this week to get a bunch of things kicked off ranging from having the architects create an initial floor plan, to getting the asbestos-removal estimates set up. Yes, the house is likely filled with asbestos - awesome, eh? I honestly think the house is actually worth negative money, but the problem is, is that even if you want to bulldoze it, you still need to get rid of the hazardous stuff.
In classic form, I had called a few companies that do asbestos removal to give me a quote, and sure enough when the second one arrived (the first one never showed), he said "where's the hazardous material test report?" To which I was like "ughhh...what report? I need a report?". And so, the testing goes on. Now I have to have the flooring, walls, ceiling, attic, etc. tested before I can get quotes on removal. Yes, logical, but not intuitive...plus it would have helped if ONE of the three companies I called asked me if I had the testing done BEFORE they came on site for a quote.
Hazardous material testing: $700
Hazardous material removal: $5000+
Having a non-hazardous house in the end: Not exactly priceless, but certainly desirable.
In other news, apparently the new hood is also the set for Supernatural (which was new to me, but it's hard to keep up with the constant emergence of new shows especially when you haven't owned a TV in years). So, you might even see my supernaturally hazardous house in this season's episodes.
Off to DC next week, so will be managing things from afar in terms of getting the scheduling set up between us, the architects and Brett (our general contractor). For everyone's amusement (or amazement), I'll put down the timeline right here and now to see how we do in the end:
- Conceptual design, surveys, assessments: September - October
- Detailed construction design, hazardous material removal, some demolition: November - January
- City Hall permits: January - February
- Lift: February
- Exterior: March
- Interior: May - September
12 months is our guess right now...but we'll see how it all plays out! With that, time to get to work on a Saturday morning.
Hey Alexis, I really love all the detail you're sharing! I find it all (even the supposed boring posts) very interesting. I had no idea all that was involved in buying and fixing up a house. Thanks so much for writing this all down!
ReplyDelete~Aimee (aka Einstein's raiser)