We ordered the home inspection and met him at the home. Upon investigation, he noted that the ductwork in this 1970's ranch home may have been made of "transite". Transite was a common duct material made pre-70's that was made from concrete and asbestos. Since it was a ranch home, these concrete pipes could be laid into the foundation instead of running sheet metal ductwork. The problem with transite is that after years, the concrete deteriorates and the asbestos gets exposed. He recommended that we order an environmental expert who could take a sample of the material from one of the ducts and send it out for analysis. He even put a camera down into the ducts to show us the concrete chipping off and exposing fibers of what was thought to be asbestos. $500 later, the report came back. Sure enough it contained asbestos. Imagine every time the furnace or air conditioner turned on, asbestos was being dispersed constantly through the home. We looked into the cost to cap off all the underground ducts by pouring concrete into them and then to run new sheet metal ducts up into the attic. $25,000! I only hope that the owner of the home who lived there for many years does not end up with any illnesses due to inhaling asbestos for so long.
Needless to say we decided to look for other homes.
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The stories continue endlessly!
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An agent I met at a seminar told me he had met a lady at a café with an incredible first-time buyer story. He happened to
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