My brother was told to stop sticking his pictures to the wall with sellotape. Therefore, upon completing his newest collage, he used the rest of the big bottle of PVA glue to fix it to the (eggshell painted) wall. It went unnoticed for a day or so, and I reckon he probably added another coat or two in the meantime, producing a rubbery, solid rectangle which had soaked right through into the plaster and was impossible to remove. My dad tried to tell him off, but the fact that he’d been told not to use sellotape, so he hadn’t, won the day and my dad swallowed his rage and left it there. It’s probably still part of that house.
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What I did was many, many hours of research via Internet. Mostly involving the laws of my US state.
Eventually I filled five 20 gallon drums with loose asbestos fiber (the bad stuff) and took it to a disposal site. Probably the most important thing to do is “work it wet” so the fibers stay out of the air, second most important thing is really high quality masks - for that moment when you uncover a dry patch. I actually had a lawn sprinkler running in my basement at one point - which put me at risk for mold, but I followed up with dehumidifiers and fans to prevent that.
Right now malignant mesothelioma is on the uptick among renovators, principally in Australia where the blue stuff is common.
Remember if it’s encapsulated white asbestos, it’s not dangerous. If it’s loose and blowing around, or if it’s blue asbestos, wet it down! And send the kids to grandma’s for a couple of days whenever you are working lead or asbestos.
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There’s a LOT of it around, esp. in older and cheaper rentals. Oh, and there’s this place: Wittenoom, Western Australia - Wikipedia
I’m just hoping the mould in my place catches mesothelioma. 
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Agreed. Helps when the homeowner wants to ground the outlets, too.
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Your brother sounds like he’d have a lot of fun stories. Growing up smartass has that affect.
That’s what she said…
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When we renovated we found a receipt for 10 lbs of sarsaparilla. You don’t find many of those lying around anymore…
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Out of curiosity, what is it you do for a living? Contractor, inspector, electrician? You seem to have some very specific knowledge and terrifying stories.
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Well, my job title is head of R & D, which makes me management on a technicality. My IRS form says Computer Scientist. What I actually do is sit in an office and answer obscure technical questions.
But I am a former electrician, a former rocket scientist, a former mechanic, and a pretty good dishwasher. I can do plumbing, masonry, and carpentry to code… A jack of all trades and mumble mumble mumble… (the second part is where the terrifying stories come from).
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Nice! I’ve dabbled in many of those things (not rocket science though) but I’m cognizant of my skill limits. It’s always fun/terrifying hearing stories about botched amateur home repair.
Your house has been rewired, or at least re-paneled.
In this country the GFCI is generally integrated into the bathroom outlet. I’m not sure if that’s safer or just easier for naked people to reset without having to tiptoe down to the basement.
Well, not to ask for a break from this crowd, but it has only been a couple of weeks for me with the 2016 Lego-Toilet Debacle. 1. Legos are evil. Screw those who say they encourage “creativity” and “brain development.” Those fuckers have never stepped on one in the middle of the night as @Stynx explains. 2. I would love for @Medievalist to inspect the wiring in my house because I’m suddenly terrified.
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Of course. It has been rewired several times. Also, the servants’ quarters were converted to bathrooms in each of the three apartments in the house. Gas-powered central heating has been installed in each of the three apartments. The gas pipes have been redone now and then, too. Phone lines have been installed, and updated for modern times. Though LTE is all I need these days.
I have, unfortunately, no clue what “re-paneling” even means…
And here in Austria we have one GFCI (that’s the residual current breaker, right?) per apartment, ahead of the breakers for the individual circuits.
Also, I love how far off-topic this thread has gotten. When I first clicked on the topic, I was seriously afraid that people would be accusing each other of being terrible parents for allowing under-14-year-old children to handle dangerous devices such as garden hoses.
In an attempt to get back to the topic of parenting and children’s safety:
When I was little, we used to have these things stuck in all our power outlets:
The idea is that you have to rotate the plug while pushing it in and that a child won’t manage to pole some sharp metal object in there by accident. When I was five, I ended up having to help an electrician’s apprentice to plug in his tools at our house. And I remember my mother telling me that those things were not there for my protection, because I was a reasonable and trustworthy little boy, but for the protection of my friends when they came over to my house.
And after having survived several years in a rented apartment that had a plug (yes, the male connector) connected to 220V electricity in one place, maybe I was actually worthy of that trust.
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Everybody says “breaker box” or “fuse box” but technically they are called “service panels” (and the connection into the house from the power company is called the “service entrance”). @L_Mariachi is talking about replacing an old timey fuse panel
with a modern circuit breaker panel.
@Jilly, google “home inspection nightmares” when you have an hour or two (or three) to spare!
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“Not all 30 year olds?”
Appreciate that your situation was a painful one, but nowhere was it implied that the statement was all 30 year olds or even all 30 year olds that are stuck at home. In addition to situations such as your own, there are economic reasons that people leave home later or end up back with parents; that said, there are still plenty of people who don’t develop the independence of spirit to fly the nest.
We call the modern system the ‘consumer unit’ in the UK.
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Lego encourages creativity, brain development and orderliness.
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Oh, he’s still Mr Logic now, like thirty-one years later. He was only five then.
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