Hullo from the "there be dragons here" area of MA

[phil]

little by little all the pieces are falling into place. I remember when we bought that I was so excited to change the locks I cut the door for a deadbolt and always regretted doing that. I didnt' use a jig and drilled it a bit out of square and spent about three evenings wishing I was a locksmith.. eventually I sorted it out. You might have a look and see if it has any deadbolts that can be locked from the inside. some of them have a little thing you can flip that prevents someone opening them from outside with a key. If that's the case maybe you can lock them out even if they do still have the key until you get a locksmith in. its possible to install some with locks on the inside and out so you can lock with a key from inside. that's OK if you go away as a thief would have a harder time getting stuff out but it's dangerous if someone did get caught in a fire and if the key wasn't in the lock they could get trapped. I'm sure the locksmith can advise.

I also had an insurance guy in when I first insured and he was really trying to get info on what was lath or plaster and said the same, that it would affect costs if it had to be taken out like if there was a fire. I was surprised that would be a concern and asked if I had a fire if they would use lath and plaster. it seemed strange that they would concern themselves with basically the dumping costs. I did take some out last summer and the costs weren't bad but could have been had there been asbestos issues. as it worked out I just had to pay for the testing.
If you wanted to you could take samples to an independent testing lab and then it would be your choice if the info you gathered was to your advantage. if they are negative then you could tell insurance and if they are positive you dont' have to say anything and at least you'd know more when (or if) you go tearing into stuff. the insurance guys couldn't do that without permission to cut a chunk out for testing. the dump told me the test is only recognized by them for 6 months but if things aren't asbestos now that obviously won't change.

[Lily left the valley]

Thanks, TexasRed! We are still a bit numb, given all the hoops and delays, so we still feel like something is going to muff stuff up. Of course, the weather most likely did further delay because they even canceled schools around here. Rightly so, as it's quite a mess outside. We are definitely feeling that this will finally happen, now it's just a matter of what day next week, really. It's just that every time prior when we thought we were on Easy Street, something came up.

When I shoveled a bit after 10am, by the time I finished all but the driveway (roughly an hour), it already was looking like I hadn't done a thing except the new snow was much lower on the places I'd shoveled/swept. I will say that living here has hammered home why it's best to put some sort of grit in your porch paint. The wood is slippery as ice even when it's just the slightest dusting of snow.

I'm debating when to go out and do another round, since it's still snowing now. I've been taking pictures since 9:30am every hour just for fun to show how much snow we're getting today. I'll post those up later when I have a few more hours for comparison. They're still predicting 19" as the top out as of this writing. The town is plowing, but since the snow is continuous, it's just keeping the overall height down a bit. Our street has a bit of a decline on it, and I saw a few cars slide stop at the intersection nearby.

Phil, I'm not overly worried yet about asbestos, I just know it's definitely possible. I'm trying to figure out how one gets a sample out of a countertop without it being obvious, though. Although I plan to replace that eventually, if it has asbestos in it, I'll dump it rather than try to repurpose it. (I was thinking maybe a laundry counter in the basement.)

I bet the insurance companies are concerned with dumping fees after they had to deal with some of the larger storms (hurricanes and tornadoes both) where they'd have certainly noticed the dumping differences when they had to deal with hundreds or even thousands of homes at once. So they just carry that knowledge to all homes moving forward as their own butt covering gesture is my guess.

I do need to find a place around here that does testing. It's on my ToDo list.

I honestly do not want to swap to drywall just for a few bucks off the insurance bill. But that's just my preference, and spouse doesn't seem to have an issue with it. If we really want to lower it, we'd get an alarm system installed, as that would lower the bill even more than changing to drywall. Knowing us, we won't do that either. I feel like having an alarm system when your home isn't chock full of valuables is just silly. There are lots of ways to alert your sleeping self if someone breaks in at night that don't require a full out system. The crime in Gardner isn't that bad anyhoo, I was more concerned since the home has been vacant, so if we moved stuff over without being there, someone might assume we have more than we do. (I actually thought of posting a list of the contents on all the doors so any would be theives could see for themselves what they'd be dealing with. I honestly thought of this just so they wouldn't try to break any of our wavy glass as a means to enter window or door. I know, I'm a big goofball. )

I honestly don't know when I'm going to try to pull up the newest layer of flooring to even get a good look at what's below in the kitchen, as our priority will be getting out of the rental so the landlady has the best chance to rent it sooner. If this bad weather continues (and we do have more snow on the way. Farmer's Almanac nailed it again!), that will inhibit the move time as it is.

I do know what you mean regarding the deadbolts. Firefolk call them "suicide locks" when they require the two keys because of how easy it is to get trapped if you don't have the key handy. The ones at the house now are bottom of the barrel cheapies. We want to take our time picking what will stay, and may even wait until we decide if we want to swap out the two modern doors for something older/better.

I've changed out locksets before when needed, so that part I'm not worried about. (I have a nice collection of hole bits and of course my chisels for when needed) I'm just glad we have a local smith who can rekey them for the short term. The seller's realtor said I can also ask if we can simply drop off the deadbolts and he can do them at his shop, as he might be more amenable to that if we need him after hours. He said it usually doesn't take long at all to do that, so one of us can hang out at the house (probably me, cleaning) while the other does the drop off/pick up. I may ask about that when I contact him next.

I've been pretty lazy today, I admit. I've been re-reading through this thread and both kicked myself for the number of times I thought we were on Easy Street and garnered Mr. Murphy's attention, and also just laughed a lot at all we've been through.

Home stretch! Any day now....any day...

[eclecticcottage]

If you do want to consider an alarm discount, look into the wireless cell based ones like Simplisafe. No wires, no contract, no landline needed-monitoring is like $15 a month.

[Lily left the valley]

If you do want to consider an alarm discount, look into the wireless cell based ones like Simplisafe. No wires, no contract, no landline needed-monitoring is like $15 a month.

We have dumb phones. What we'd save on such a system, we'd lose upgrading to smart phones if it's an app needed instead of text only. (I can't even get some texts because newer systems gussy them up with code garbage meant only for smart phones, and they then become unreadable on mine.)

I will check it out though! Thank you for the tip.

[Willa]

Re: countertop material asbestos concerns

From what I have read, asbestos in vintage VCT tile or sheet flooring is not an issue until it is sanded or broken. It is safer to leave it as is. The asbestos is thoroughly suspended in the flooring composition material. There are some sheet vinyl flooring where the backing material is crumbling and turns to dust - this is a greater concern. I don't know that asbestos vinyl sheet flooring was commonly used for countertops ?

http://inspectapedia.com/hazmat/Asbesto ... cation.php

It was common for countertops to be made from linoleum. Linoleum = linseed oil, cork, pigment, jute backing, no asbestos. Linoleum has a slightly resilient feel to it v.s. melamine/formica which is harder.

[eclecticcottage]

It doesn't actually use your cell service, it is just cell based. All you need is power. I have one at the Bungalow. You can get all sorts of add ons but I have the basics-motion, entry and smoke. I kind of figured like you, it's been vacant and people know it, so are they going to be interested in what might now be inside (which would be too bad for them since the answer is, not much, I take most things home daily lol). I got a small discount on my insurance and now that I met the neighbors I don't know that it was all that needed (since they are always watching whats going on there lol), but it's there anyway. Plus there's no wires to deal with and I can just bring it with me to the next one as long as there is cell coverage in that area.

[Lily left the valley]

Re: countertop material asbestos concerns

From what I have read, asbestos in vintage VCT tile or sheet flooring is not an issue until it is sanded or broken. It is safer to leave it as is. The asbestos is thoroughly suspended in the flooring composition material. There are some sheet vinyl flooring where the backing material is crumbling and turns to dust - this is a greater concern. I don't know that asbestos vinyl sheet flooring was commonly used for countertops ?

http://inspectapedia.com/hazmat/Asbesto ... cation.php

It was common for countertops to be made from linoleum. Linoleum = linseed oil, cork, pigment, jute backing, no asbestos. Linoleum has a slightly resilient feel to it v.s. melamine/formica which is harder.

When I read your post, a wee light flickered dimly in the back of my head regarding the countertops. I think I have read such about how they are safer despite and had forgotten same. Thank you for the reminder, and extra thanks for the direct inspectapedia link. Love that site. It will come in handy when I can get a better look at the new discovery on the floor.

phil was actually referring to the floor tiles I'd spotted yesterday peeking out between the latest vinyl layer and what appears to be the original wood floor under the sink. Might be plank subfloor, I didn't have a torch to check. My brain, because of the color similarities, jumped back to the countertops as well.

Of course, I realized today, we had the camera. Which has a flash. Did I think to just take a picture so I could see under there with the light from the flash? Nooooooo. (I am not a morning person.)

It doesn't actually use your cell service, it is just cell based. All you need is power. I have one at the Bungalow. You can get all sorts of add ons but I have the basics-motion, entry and smoke. I kind of figured like you, it's been vacant and people know it, so are they going to be interested in what might now be inside (which would be too bad for them since the answer is, not much, I take most things home daily lol). I got a small discount on my insurance and now that I met the neighbors I don't know that it was all that needed (since they are always watching whats going on there lol), but it's there anyway. Plus there's no wires to deal with and I can just bring it with me to the next one as long as there is cell coverage in that area.

Okies. I mis-understood. I thought it was one of the sorts where the cell portion is needed for updates and status.

Will definitely look into this sooner rather than later then. Thank you again.

[cat2014]

Been following this thread for quite a while and am confused, which is not hard to do to me. Which house are you finally closing on??? Sorry, but try as I might, I can't figure it out (too many senior moments) Am very happy that this is finally coming to a close and you'll have a old home to call "home sweet home!"

[Lily left the valley]

Been following this thread for quite a while and am confused, which is not hard to do to me. Which house are you finally closing on??? Sorry, but try as I might, I can't figure it out (too many senior moments) Am very happy that this is finally coming to a close and you'll have a old home to call "home sweet home!"

No worries. You are not the first to ask which one, as we have been through quite a few.

260 Baker, the '35 bungalow. The one with the crazy cat story, that was thought lost when five bids were in before we even had a chance to bid, then suddenly went back on the market again just as we were souring on the sellers' lack of permits on the Carpenter Gothic we had won the bid on after we had lost the bid on the MCM ranch.

None of which are the house that got me to the District (and started this thread), and there were two others in between all the mess linked above, but we never cared much for those anyhoo.

Trust me, you're not having a senior moment. There was an awful lot to try to keep track of since August.

[SkipW]

Just a quick congratulations (hopefully not too soon!) that you seem to finally be at the end of the long road to owning this home...

Since you have changed out locks before, how about a quick trip to the store for a few locksets/deadbolts to swap the moment you take ownership? There are some inexpensive ones out there that will keep the house safe without the potential expense of the locksmith after hours, etc. Unless the ones there are something special you want to keep, no need to rekey them and you could install something you like and want to keep.