Lead, Asbestos, and Mold, Oh My! Also, Radon and a Chipmunk

When you buy a home there is always the general inspection that takes place. But, when you buy a 100+ year-old-home there are many more inspections that are a good idea to complete to make sure you are not getting yourself into a money-pit situation. The dilemma is: how much $$$ do you dish out in inspection costs in the interest of the ever invaluable peace.of.mind? Especially, when there is the possibility that the problems you uncover, may be far too big for your future wallet to deal with, and you may have to back out of the home completely...At this point we have told several of our friends relatives about our suspicions of the homes "hazards", and the common response is, "run away". But, I guess we're determined not to get scared off. It's just going to take a little extra effort, research, and $$.

Well, in our case it was about $1200 big ones. And in the end, how much did this save us by learning the results up front? Let's just say, it was WELL worth it!! And I now only enter our house looking like this:

There were several little clues along the way that guided us to hire specialized inspectors in conjunction with the general inspector. The home listed that the exterior was covered in lovely asbestos siding. When walking through the interior of the home with the architect, she pointed out some tile that she recognized as asbestos as well. I think it was the combination of our combined years of HGTV watching experience, as well as the home's lovely "musky" smell that led us to consider the possibility of mold. And, in doing some research on older homes I came across lots of documentation concerning lead paint (which can be present in any home built before 1978). We also paid extra with the general inspector to perform a radon test.

THE RESULTS ARE IN!

1) Asbestos: Positive - The entire exterior of home (excluding garage), 1st floor tile in breezeway, laundry, and closet areas, 1st floor bathroom tile, and 2nd floor bathroom tile, as well as the mastic (or adhesive) under the tile.

2) Mold: Positive results came back as "high" for three different types of mold in both the breezeway underneath the wallpaper, and the timbers throughout our attic.

3) Lead: Positive - Wall in kitchen, painted wood flooring throughout both 1st and 2nd floor, 2nd floor closet, 2nd floor bedroom doors, windows throughout both 1st and 2nd floors.

4) Radon: Positive - If your average radon concentration is at or above 4.0 pCi/L, mitigation is recommended. Ours came back at 4.2 pCi/L. Go figure.

5) General Inspection:
- Structural Issues. Dunt, dunt, dunt. The general inspector has suspicions of structural issues. That is a dreaded term when buying an old house. Structural issues. It just doesn't have a nice ring to it, does it?
- Electrical. We were also made aware that we have no 3 prong outlets in our entire home or GFCI outlets in the bathrooms or kitchen as required by code, and this would require some electrical work.
- Plumbing Issues.  Both 1st and 2nd floor baths drain slowly. This could indicate something simple like the need for cleaning pipes or something serious and expensive such as a collapsed old clay pipe, which could literally cost us thousands of dollars.
- Chipmunk Living in House. This is him.

We now have 3 additional inspections/quotes to acquire and assess before our "5 day inspection period" ends.  It's looking liking an extension is going to be needed...