Re: Hullo from the "there be dragons here" area of MA
Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2017 5:17 pm
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.
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.