The concern about living in a home without smoke detectors in all proper locations is a serious one which requires no special expertise to understand. Just google stories of people who died in home fires.Several posters have mentioned making an assessment of the true risk of of drilling a few holes to put up the new smoke detectors in plaster walls that may have asbestos in them. My cousin has to make their own decision.
But, how would I, as a consumer, make that assessment?
Comparing drilling (or nailing) a few holes in a consumer’s possibly plaster containing walls/ceilings to someone working with or in asbestos may not sound like much of a concern.
Drilling holes might cause the plaster to crack, or break apart, and/or cause a mess?
Many people, or informational sites will give a long rationale about the importance of testing or doing a work-a-round so nothing is disturbed.
When one's fears are heightened and you are not completely sure of the information you’re getting it can be even more difficult to ferret it all out.
It would be nice if there was a more nuanced understanding of the risks around this type of situation. My cousin has told me that she has spoken with people who feel her concern around drilling the holes is overkill, and yet why isn’t this information available to the consumer who may well not have the time, energy, and subject matter expertise to understand the impact of a situation like this. Instead she spends or may spend more time, energy and money fixing a problem that may not really be a problem to begin with.
So many opt for the work-a-round or the testing.
But I agree, being able to do a quality assessment of the risk would be great, I’m just not sure we all have the resources to do it and to do so quickly if time is also an issue.
I will leave this issue to my cousin to figure out.
Given her anxiety, I suggest she call the fire department and have them come install them for her. They do this all the time, have done it in other old houses with plaster, and it will be free.
Statistics: Posted by leeks — Wed May 22, 2024 8:19 pm