Hazardous Materials Testing - A

So - just got back from the haz-mat testing at the new place. It was not the best thing ever. We used Alara Environmental Health and Safety - who gave us the best quote in the end (or so it seemed). That said, Steven Seewald (the president) was actually the one who did the testing and he was really pleasant and despite the extra costs, think that he did what he had to. It wasn't him, so much as the owners who created this monstrosity of a mish-mash of materials (that and probably overly zealous rules by the Workers Compensation Board)


The testing ran $900 over. Ugh. Give your thanks to small Italian men who like to patch over shit over, and over, and over again...resulting in a zillion samples. The original quote from Alara was for $595 (including 7 samples) + $45/sample + HST. I started to grow a bit concerned when he started taking samples like they were going out of style. I'm guessing the final bill will be close to $1500. Ouch.

The bad news:

A) $900 extra (~25 samples, vs. an estimated 7. The guy explained it - it's largely due to WCB. Understandable (and the guy was really nice about it), but frustrating.

B) Lots of possible asbestos (linoleum shit EVERYWHERE...and so freakin' random...e.g., part of the living room has it?!)

C) Sounds like demolition is going to be even more expensive than I'd guessed...but I guess we'll wait and see.

The "good" news:
A) I think the flooring "might" be able to be refinished...which at least saves us a bit of money.

B) There are no issues in the basement (hallelujah!).

C) We got a Home Depot gift card (amount unknown) in the mail from the RBC mortgage broker - who didn't even issue our mortgage...how odd... (so make that $880 over)

D) We got a city of Vancouver survey worth $10 in the mail as well (now down to $870!!!)

E) The guy saved us another $100 by opting out of two tests that he felt pretty confident on. 

F) I don't have to pay for more testing...well...except for the energy audit...

G) I realized that I can circumvent the fact that nobody takes credit cards by using credit card cheques...

Welcome to the world of house ownership. And now I'm off to drink.