Brickeyee & Inox: you're both right! Inox, that is your friend's job description - nothing personal seemed intended. You have to admit, your initial response didn't address him as a friend of yours that happened to hold this position. (It sounded like you called the university & asked a stranger). Brickeyee's response was to that situation, I think, which is logical. However, knowing now that he's a friend of yours, his answer gets more validation than that of someone protecting their employer & their own job! :-) The $30 price seems surprisingly reasonable, even w/the additional filter/cartridge cost. I intend to buy it soon, AND use Brickeyee's mask alternative for current project. To the other concerns about childrens safety... Here it is, (I didn't want to "go here"). My oldest son is a "special needs" child & is homeschooled for that reason. For same reason, has frequent check-ups, where I keep his Dr. up-to-date on house situation & projects. (In the form of "conversation", but we both know its to keep him current on any issues both kids may need tested for. Dr asks "so, what are you working on these days", & I tell him, we discuss potential issues). So, sincerely, I have that covered! Ok? :-). It's just, when you mention "homeschooling" or "special needs", people start acting differently. I've been there, & wanted to avoid it here - just be an owner of an old house and a mom. :-) SL

Three things to do last evening: we have a federal election coming up and the TV debate was on last night ... and there was a meeting with a mining company in which I've had some shares for several years as presenters ... plus church council was meeting. Have any of you figured how to be three places at once? Wednesday afternoon, and I didn't remove any clothing from the line prior to leaving, this morning (but took in a few, last evening when I returned home, rather late). The guys doing e-file did some income tax return business this morning, but I, preparing paper-based returns, sat and twiddled my thumbs (actually, had some paper work and reading to do). Many people want their refund back ... right ... away! Preparing a flyer showing how some income-earners could have had an increase of over 50% in tax-free income from a certain type of investments during this Prime Minister's term of office from about $28 - 30,000. to over $46,000. ... a diffeent method of calculation having been provided for. While the basic ones, slightly under $10,000., went up about 3%. Took some returns to the tax office, got some gas and soon will be home to take in the last of the two washes and hang out the one left in the washer. I hope that you're all having a great week. Just had this page taken over by a lady with a beautiful smile ... trying to sell me beauty products! Imagine! Took me a while to find the "X marks the spot" thing! ole joyfilled (until a couple of minutes ago)

Seabornman, What was your experience, was it from an attic? Does it come granular and puffed? A question I have is the degree to which vermiculite is inherently dusty/friable, or is it like 9 inch floor squares, with asbestos locked into a matrix. I learned a couple years ago that some popcorn ceiling material was made with vermiculite. Because of that, I had to retest my ceilings, which did not come back hot. I would recommend to KZ for piece of mind, to speak with an Asbestos testing lab and either have them come out to collect a sample, and test it stringently.

We did ours ourselves too. I'm so glad we did. We just went slowly. Most of our cabinets were impossible to take out in one piece, here's some of the stuff I remember. 1-We took the time to pound any nails sticking out over. I thought it was a waste of time, until later when we were dropping off at the city site. Worth the time to make safer. 2-We had a soffit I was planning on leaving so that we wouldn't have to make repairs to the ceiling. That didn't work out, it was attached to the cabinets. Don't go in expecting exact results. Things change around. 3-SLOW AND CAREFUL!! I had to repair two unnecessary holes in the wall because my fiance was having fun doing 'demo' like they do on TV. We were trying to salvage the walls (to save on costs and avoid turning it into a 'permit' job). 4-Plumbing and gas - I went shopping before hand to find a cap for the gas for the stove, it was a little confusing because I'm not well-versed in gas pipes. I managed to have the right thing on hand, though, thanks to the friendly neighborhood hardware store - it made me feel safer. The sink, though, I was unprepared for - apparently gases can come out of a uncapped waste pipe for the sink. We ended up just stuffing ours with a rag and duct taping it - worked out. 5-Like anything else, if you're doing with a significant other, schedule breaks and have snacks. This is the sort of project that is PRIME for starting a ridiculous tension filled fight (see #3, with unnecessary wall holes!) It just took us a few hours, we were pleasantly surprised. One more thing, if it's just two of you doing it and there are appliances involved, I HIGHLY recommend getting a set of those 'forearm forklifts' - it made moving appliances SO much easier, and I'm pretty wimpy Have fun! There was something really satisfying about doing the demo ourselves. And, if we HAD had our contractor do it, I'm sure I would have been kicking myself for 'wasting' the money. Unless, like folks said, you need abatement for asbestos. Some things are worth paying the professionals for! Here is a link that might be useful: Forearm Forklift