Originally posted on 2018-11-30
Among other things done this week.
This is not a recommendation nor a guide to make removing vermiculite a DIY project. Hiring professionals to do this can be costly, but not nearly as costly as it can be to your health if not done properly. Before deciding we were going to tackle this particular issue, we spent A LOT of time researching exactly how to do it.
The first thing we did was send the little one away to Grandpa & Grandma’s, as there is no level of risk that is acceptable to expose her to in this regard. Then we went shopping to make sure we had everything we would require to keep ourselves safe, including (but not limited to): respirators, eye protection, disposable coveralls, HEPA filters for a fan and the Shop Vac, vacuum bags for the Shop Vac, a lot of vapor barrier & tuck tape. We created a zone of negative pressure by sealing off the effected area with vapor barrier & tuck tape and using a high velocity fan to blow the air out. We ran another fan with a HEPA filter attached to filter any small particulate matter out of the air.
The nice thing about doing this ourselves in this particular location, was we were planning on taking out the ceiling and the walls anyway, ensuring that we got the stuff that might otherwise be left behind even by professionals. However, the entire process took a couple of days longer than we had anticipated, and I would be lying if I told you the process was not a pain. Changing into separate clothes every time we needed to go into the main house (even with coveralls over them), and the fact that we blocked off the main hallway of the house, so we had to travel outside to get from our main living area to our bedrooms, are just a couple of the challenges we had to deal with.
But the vermiculite is now gone, the hallway has been re-insulated with new Roxul Insulation, and the ceiling and walls have been covered with vapor barrier. We let the fans run the entire time we were working plus an additional 24 hours until the air was clear. In the end, the project went fairly smoothly and it feels good to cross this off our list.
I can say, that it was a good thing that we had previously moved our bedrooms upstairs, as otherwise we would not have had access to them during this removal. The original bedrooms we were using came right off this hallway and had to be sealed closed. Something we would have thought of as we were taping the doors shut, but happy that it was already done. Now that the front entryway and main hallway are properly sealed we will eventually drywall and floor this part of the house, but (as always) for the moment other things has taken priority.
While we were dealing with that issue, contractors cut down a few trees for us, but left them behind. We did this for two reasons; 1) having them hauled away is a cost we could mitigate and 2) we plan to mill and use the main part of the trees once the workshop is completed for furniture in the house. But before that can happen we need to clean them up.
Right now these trees are taking up the entire space between the house and the two garages, blocking the path to the propane tanks (which will be very bad if they are still there when we need the next propane delivery.), but on the plus side, these are being cleaned up as I write this post. Division of labor is great!
The last big project being tackled this week is preparing the shop so work can be done in there. As I think I’ve mentioned, we plan to make all the kitchen cupboards, as well as some furniture for the house. This week has involved a lot of cleanup as we were forced to use this garage for storage when we got the first large order of supplies, as well as more insulating and sealing so it can be heated over the winter months.
The new electrical panel has been installed to handle the machinery that will be here, and OSB has been installed on most of the walls. OSB was chosen so we could screw into the wall without worry of hitting a stud, a useful thing for tool storage. While doing the work, we have been deciding where to put everything.
During the last several weeks, we keep doing things to the laundry room, but never enough to make it a feature in a post. Since we’ve moved in, we have removed the water heater and the laundry sink and put in pex plumbing to the washing machine. The ceiling has been removed as part of the vermiculite removal and the shelves have been removed. We took out the window when we removed all the windows along the northern wall and covered it with Rigid Foam insulation. The paneling on the outside wall has been removed and the wall has been insulated with both Spray Foam Gap Filler & Roxul Insulation.
That wraps up this busy week. Stay tuned as many large changes are still to come!
Huron The Lake 