# Forum Home Renovation Asbestos  Cost of asbestos removal and recommendations melb inner north

## 50cubits

I am considering the purchase at auction of a house in the inner north that contains an asbestos sheet shed 4x2 m along with dining, kitchen, laundry and bathroom areas all lined with asbestos. Aluminium H joins and tilux being the main indicators.  I would estimate that the total internal areas would be about 7x5 m. The house also needs restumping and has low floor access and would need a new roof eventually.  We were hoping to wait a few years before carrying out major reno's  but would be prepared to fix a few things our problem is budget. What would it cost to remove and gyprock and put in a temporary bathroom and kitchen? 
Before you all say don't touch the asbestos before the full reno you probably should now that my husbands dad died of lung cancer contracted through his work as a marine engineer. I'm trying to convince my husband that because the asbestos is largely intact and hasn't had subsequent renovations that removal will be an easier job than in a house that has had a bad reno over the top of asbestos materials, which is what we seem to be seeing a lot of in houses out there.  
This would be a first home purchase for completely inexperienced renovators. Should we pass on this property and wait for something else? We can probably only afford unrenovated homes in the areas we are looking and I imagine they all have issues.  
Also is it the responsibility of the Real Estate Agents to notify potential purchasers of asbestos? 
 thanks

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## lidiam81

You need the asbestos assessed separate to removal, then you need a certifier to come and determine that the site is cleared as far as practicable. 
Having said that, we had the majority of ours removed professionally, and when we removed floor and ceilings (layers of tiles and plaster/lathe) we found various other bits and pieces that couldn't have been detected during inspection. Nothing unmanageable though. 
The assessment company we went through is called BENSS, but there are heaps of removalists and they usually work with preferred inspectors.  
Most properties in the inner north will have it...

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## Bloss

No reason not to buy if you are otherwise happy with the house. Sorry to hear your Dad's exposure  contributed to his death, but there is no valid comparison. Marine engineers were exposed to loose pure asbestos rope & tape lagging and asbestos pastes and jointing cements - all of which emitted high levels of particulates. My Dah had similar exposure during WWII, including an asbestos cloth flash hood used in 3 years as a gunner, but he was lucky just deafness from the guns! 
For the AC sheeting in a house to do that it it needs to be mechanically interfered with ie: drilled, sanded etc and evn then the percentages of asbestos were between 3-9%. Still must take care as this is a risk that can be reduced and mitigated well with simple measures.

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## 50cubits

Thanks lidiam81 and Bloss, I am happy with the property and with the fact that at least the visible asbestos is in good condition. lidiam81 it sounds like you had all your work done properly, do you remember how long it took and how much did it cost? I'll make a few calls to removal companies next week and also talk to BENSS to get an idea if we can afford the removal on top of the property costs.  
I agree that there is no comparison in terms of the risks associated with sheet asbestos but we are dealing with a certain amount psychological scarring. I'm just glad that people are becoming more aware of its existence in residential homes. Now to figure out a way of making sure the other bidders at auction are aware :Innocent:

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## lidiam81

The inspection was around $250, and took an hour of inspecting, then 2 days for the report. Removal/disposal of laundry and kitchen floors (that Lino with asbestos) a few bits of sheeting in our sunroom (it was about 6m square total) was just under $900 and then inspection was another $200 and that took 1 hour or so same days as removal which took about 3 hours.  
We didn't have a lot so that helped but if they had found what we did under the floors, it would have been a day of removal, there were lots of broken bits everywhere. We've removed it ourselves and will dispose at the appropriate tip. The local safe disposal tip here is in Wollert (past Epping), which is a good 30 mins away.

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## alkababba

I dont know if this helps but the company (melbourne based) that removed our asbestos roof is called asbestos solutions and they worked it out to be about 25 dollars a square meter (the whole roof was about $2900) to remove, then replace with colorbond for $15,500 (roof place called longlife roofing co.) We need the eaves replaced now and i intend to call asbestos solutions (i only spoke to longlife this morning to ask who they used after a few companies quoted me close to $2,000 just to do the eaves.

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## HarperLee

Thanks, this is really helpful for me - to get an indication of costs of removing asbestos. I'm in Altona and my indoor laundry is walled with it, ceiling too. Don't believe it is in the floor - but who knows! And, don't believe it is elsewhere (except eaves), but who knows. I was talking to a builder recently about leaving it or removing it as I'm hoping to renovate my laundry soon. If it costs around $1500 to remove (with inspections) and I'm basing it on your quotes, I think I would prefer to remove it. It just means I can do more design-wise with the laundry. I then don't need to worry about causing health and safety issues to my tradies. They've all said they could work around it, especially as I want to have floor to ceiling tiles. 
The challenge with asbestos is that it is an emotional debate too. We've all been surrounded by it at some point. When I was a kid we used pieces of it to mark our hopscotch! 
I understand in the ACT all properties sold must have an Asbestos report with the appropriate sale documentation, so the buyer can check it out, buy into it knowing what they are getting. I was surprised when I recently bought in Melbourne that this isn't done. A pity. As it won't stop sales (because it is in all houses), just helps the buyer be informed.

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## alkababba

It is a pain, before i bought my house i knew nothing about asbestos. We have the same situation. The laundry and toilet at the back of the house are made out of it, as are the eaves and the roof was (before it got removed) but like you said as long as you're aware of it, its not as much of a big deal as some poeple think. Our walls are in good condition (the exterior of the house is asbestos) so we arent worried there. But the thing that freaks me out is how they say it can be in tiles, paint, grout, plaster. Lol i like to play it safe and just get the pros to do it. The roof removal included someone to come around after and give it the ok for safety, that there were no particles left behind and it was safe to return to the house, so if you consider everything, $2,000 for a roof isnt too bad. 
(it helps that our house was so cheap, we kindof expected there to be some cons attached to buying an old house, but the money we saved on it still outweighs the cost it is to mess around with asbestos.

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