long day

[low_delta]

They're taking my dumpster away tomorrow, so I took the day off to get all the remaining trash and debris out of the apartment. I did it too. (Okay, almost.)

I intended to get up there and start working by ten o'clock, but about that time I realized I'd promised my tax information to my accountant (stepmother) by last week, and since she's doing my taxes for free I don't want to piss her off, so I took an hour to dig all that stuff up. So eleven o'clock, it was.

I worked until 5:00 taking the ceilings down. Man, that was awful. Vermiculite insulation. You pull a board down and it just streams out, and the dirt and dust flies. It irritated my eyes so bad. They're still red. Cyn came up, so after supper we went to Home Depot to pick up my windows. Then we went upstairs to work. Cyn pulled up most of the carpet. I continued with the ceiling and walls in the hallway. We both made lots more trips downstairs to the dumpster. She left before 9:00, but I didn't finish until ten to twelve.

The only thing I didn't get done was pull the masonite "paneling" out of the stairway. That's the only remaining thing that would be hard to get rid of with my regular curbside pickup.

Now I have to get up in six hours.

Comments

[roadskoller.livejournal.com]

Whew!

[vlinker.livejournal.com]

eeewww........*cringe*.......vermiculite insulation......

[sirreal13.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a hellacious job... For future reference: Depending on where the vermiculite came from, there may be some asbestos associated with it (one of the worst is the Libby Mine in Montana). That might affect how much protection you where (respiratory protections, etc.) and how you can dispose of it. It may not be at detectable levels, but I would advise checking into it. Sorry I didn't read this before.

EPA is spending multimillions cleaning up the Western Minerals vermiculite site in Minnneapolis and the area that was contaminated by the vermiculite that was used by the neighbors.

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

It was all in the dumpster by the time I posted this. I've no way of knowing where it came from. But thanks for the warning. I'll try to be more careful the next time.

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

I keep meaning to ask you... since there's a whole lot more vermiculite in there... What do you think the asbestos risk might be? How likely is there to be any in there?

[sirreal13.livejournal.com]

I'm not really an asbestos expert, but there are low levels of asbestos in vermiculite from Libby, MT. You could send some to a testing lab to know for sure, but it might be near the limit of detection. If the levels are over 1% by weight, EPA says you need to use special precautions to prevent exposure to the environment. OSHA says you need to handle it accoding to special precautions above 0.1% asbestos (most analytical methods can only see down to 1%). There's some kind of homeowner exemption for working around asbestos-containing material, but as a landlord, the exemptions may not hold. The bottom line is you can't breathe any fibers (if there are any) and you need disposable coveralls so you don't contaminate your street clothes. I can't give you risk levels.

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

Okay, thanks.