" If you have vermiculite insulation in your home, you should assume this material may be contaminated with asbestos and be aware of steps you can take to protect yourself and your family from exposure to asbestos." EPA quote from below link.

Here is a link that might be useful: EPA On Vermiculite

I have seen some episodes of Holmes Inspection where an attic has vermiculite. The fix is to remove all of it using a vacuum cleaner. Once all of it is removed you inspect the attic for any additional problems. After that you can blow in as much insulation as you would like.

mike

Most likely the vermiculite situation you describe was in the attic of a Canadian home given it's Mike Holmes. I have to wonder if the Canadian vermiculite came from the mine in Libby, Montana, that is cited by the EPA as the source of the potentially asbestos contaminated vermiculite?

Your suggestion to simply vacuum wold seem to be at complete odds with the EPA's recommendation.

From the link, "YOU SHOULD ASSUME THE VERMICULITE CONTAINS ASBESTOS AND DO NOT DISTURB IT!"

This post was edited by saltidawg on Sun, Jun 8, 14 at 13:20

Thanks to everyone so far. I had hoped to also get responses from those having gone through this already. I will consult with the attorney tomorrow, but may not be able to have a sample taken as we have past the inspection phase. At any rate, my research so far indicates that any vermiculite is likely to contain asbestos so one is advised to consider that it is contaminated. Leaving it be is not an option; either I buy this house I really want and have it removed at great expense or walk away. Some would say run away.
As I see it, there is no safe way to leave it undisturbed; what if there is ever a roof leak/ice dam requiring replacing the ceiling...already some roof sheathing has to be replaced, so can never do wiring, skylights, solar tube, recessed ceiling lights...? I am so stressed over this!

peegee,

Based on my experience with making many home purchases over the years, and reading your posts, I'd walk. There will be other homes that will make you happy without the need for dealing with a possible hazardous condition.

Satidawg,

You are correct, the homes Mike Holmes works on are in Canada. The rules about handling vermiculite may be different.

I was not suggesting the home owner go into into his attic with his shop vac and remove it. The removal needs to be done by an asbestos abatement company. I believe there are vacuum cleaners designed for this purpose.

I agree that asbestos should not be disturbed. But if homeowner plans to make penetrations into the ceiling then the safest bet is to remove it.

This post was edited by mike_home on Mon, Jun 9, 14 at 7:29

On my last home I had terrible insulation. It was old old blown in and was matted and compressed and filthy. I decided that the right way to handle it was to get a good cartridge respirator and with a rake I made to fit the span of the joists and a short handled shovel I removed all of the old crap in garbage bags and put in new fiberglass batts. It was like a new house. A miserable job, but as I did it myself, it was inexpensive. Oh, I also put a couple box fans on the gable vents to get things going in the right direction. This was absolutely worth doing.

jackfre,

The OP has vermiculite with a 70% chance of being asbestos contaminated.

Are you suggesting to the OP that he or she, " get a good cartridge respirator and with a rake I made to fit the span of the joists and a short handled shovel?"

I had similar problems in my home. After an asbestos inspection, the vermiculite had badly affected the ceiling. Even though we've been inhabiting the house for over a year now, we'd never faced so much trouble with the vermiculite removal process. My neighbor suggested we go for professional vermiculite removal services from Oakville. This decision really really helped I must say.

Here is a link that might be useful: Vermiculite Removal service ,Oakville

If you like the house and think the vermiculite is a problem why not get an estimate from an insulation company for removal and replacement of the insulation? This isn't the big deal it was 10-20 years ago, there are now many appropriately licensed and equipped companies that do remediation, so much more competition and lower pricing as a result. Better to work with data than speculate about how awful it might be.

Salti...thanks for pointing out what I should have known in the first place. Sorry for the mis-direction OP.

I bought a home with vermiculite. Removed about 35 bags or so with a shop vac. Double bagged them and got an Aspestos Abatement co. To transport and dispose of it for under $1000. Of course I used a respirator and fully covered my skin and eyes. It was alot of work, but saved thousands. If I was exposed to it, there many other things that will kill me if not the aspestos anyways.

I bought my house 3 years ago, yesterday went in to the attic and I saw bags full of the vermiculite and I didn’t know what it was so I did some research I I find out what it is and now I’m all concerned about it, the house inspector didn’t told me anything about it, I’m in Washington state so pretty sure it came from libby Montana company.