The company I used to test the dry wall only charged $50 a test. If the plaster is not asbestos I think I can handle it on my own. If it is asbestos that's probably not something I want to do myself.

I've wondered about that but I think it's always been a duplex. It has separate basements, shows up on maps around 1900 as being two addresses, and has transoms over the entrance doors. This area was very working class around that time and this would have been a large house and pretty crappy house for someone who could afford a house this big.

But yeah, just trying to get all my ducks in a row to make an informed decision on the demo.

Here is the best pic I have of the insulation backing from when I opened the lower walls.

https://i.imgur.com/YpHI7vX.jpg

I'd prefer to just get all the old shit out of here and fix it up as good as we can. Thanks for commenting. Just trying to give the tenants as nice of a property as we can.

Here are the pictures individually:

https://i.imgur.com/LBMVHmF.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/TgJl5h9.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/wMjg98f.jpg

120+ years. I'm fairly confident that the paint is lead.

I know the drywall mud has trace amounts of asbestos in it from previous testing. I guess I gotta get the guy back out here to test the plaster?

The county says it’s 1900. It’s a two story side by side duplex. The only addition to house is a two story porch that reaches the bottom of the second story bedroom window (the bedroom above the kitchen im working on).

The porch was put on the 80s I think.

The porch is through the wall my light is on in this picture. The white shit at the bottom is all dust.

https://i.imgur.com/wMjg98f.jpg

I haven't tested the plaster, I already had a guy come test for asbestos before I found out about the plaster.

Is the mold concern coming from the color of the vapor barrier of the insulation? I know that the insulation dates to around 1970 based on the parts I've already replaced in the lower walls. It wouldn't surprise me if there are small holes in the side paneling and I really doubt it has a moisture barrier on the outside.

So yeah that's part of why I'm posting here, to find out what I don't know.

The room directly above the kitchen is a bedroom. This is the only room in the house that has a ceiling this low. I guess I just don't understand why they'd go through the trouble of removing the plaster from the walls but put a drop ceiling in. There's no hvac or plumbing that goes through the false ceiling. The only electric going through it is for lights in the false ceiling.

If there is a leak it's probably from the wood panels under the siding, which is in poor condition in some places from what I've seen. It is indeed a timber framed house.

Yes. https://truetime.portauthority.org/map

It’s insane that a person can buy a house in like 1970, do bare minimum maintenance, sell it for an exorbitant profit today largely driven by location and lack of supply, and have the new owner take on not only all the deferred maintenance but also a higher tax bill while the property is still hot garbage.

The air is poisoned, but not by the train derailment. Republicans defanging the EPA have allowed US Steel and Shell to pump our skies full of pollution with no consequence.

Take a nice long drive up to King Cones Castle in Butler.

It's art by Tony Cokes and is an exhibit from the Carnegie Museum of Art.

My favorite is the profound "she didn't believe in credit cards."

Non PG link: https://archive.is/j6JCM

Who is the typical owner of a vacant/blighted property? The borough, bank, company, speculator or regular landowner?

There's a ton of variables to your question. How big is your apartment? Is your heat electric? Is your water heater electric? On page 3 of your DLC bill, what's your kWh price for distribution/supply/transmission? Is your supplier DLC?

I would check with Wildcard in Lawrenceville or Kards Unlimited in Shadyside. Kards Unlimited shows that they have those posters on their site.

I’m all for trains, but this decision literally is adding 0 more trucks to roads as it has been unused for 7 years.

For this to be viable for passenger service it’d be a massive undertaking involving buying land from an additional railway (NS?) and then changing the gauge of the rail to whatever PRT uses. Unless the plan is to create some other form of passenger rail or just extend Amtrak service up there which is way more wishful thinking.

I don’t get how AVR is shooting themselves in the foot by offloading something that generates no revenue and hasn’t for 7 years.

It’s unused rail infrastructure. There are no longer rail customers along the brilliant branch. The last one (AZCON scrap) closed 7 years ago. Since then, AVR hasn’t used it except for twice as a bypass when they were repairing whatever usual route they take to the Pittsburgh line. AVR is willing to sell it after all, it’s not like it’s being taken from them.

The law says something like cars must park within 12 inches of the curb. The legislature actually recently tried to change the law to allow for the creation of parking protected lanes, but republican senators sabotaged the bill. https://triblive.com/news/pennsylvania/protected-bike-lane-bill-named-for-a-pittsburgher-vetoed-over-late-gop-amendments/

> They should have moved the parking closer to the road and protected the bike lane behind the parking. There’s so much room for them to do that.

It is not legal to build parking protected bike lanes in Pennsylvania, unfortunately.