History of construction pitfalls

[William Wright]

It seems there are about a dozen or so costly repair items that can be traced back to a certain time period in construction history. For example, asbestos, knob and tube wiring, aluminum wiring, lead paint, etc.

Can anyone suggest a book or some sort of resource that will walk you through items like these, how to spot them when walking a property, and a cost to repair or replace them?

Thanks in advance!

[Jon Reed]

Some of the big issues you can't tell from just looking such as asbestos and lead paint. The rest of it is very easy to spot by just taking a look at the breaker box/fuse box and a peak in the attic. Hop onto YouTube and just watch some videos, that will help out more than trying to find a book that has all the information in it.

As for cost... there is no set price for how much all that stuff cost. Even within a single home I have gotten quotes of 1,500 - 4,000 to put in a new breaker box. So to know the cost in your area it will take some leg work of calling around and getting estimates.