Old materials in a Richfield basement, furnace room or house set for demolition need answers before work starts. We set up the testing, remove only what the lab confirms, file the state notice and keep the waste records, so your remodel or teardown goes on with clean material.
Over three quarters of Richfield homes predate 1980. The 1950s were the busiest decade by far, adding nearly a third of the homes there today.
Wrapped branch ducts removed so two kitchen floor registers can move
Example project
Home
1950s one-story house in Richfield with branch ducts under the kitchen floor
Original request
Move two floor registers that the new cabinet layout would cover
Testing
Samples of the branch duct wrap and the joint tape by an MDH-certified inspector
Found
Asbestos in the wrap and tape on the two branch runs under the kitchen
Clear
No asbestos in the tape on the main trunk
Area
About 30 sq ft of wrap and tape
Timeline
Five-day notice, then one working day
Cost
$2,100
In this example, the owners of a 1950s house in Richfield are redoing their kitchen. The new cabinets cover two floor registers, so the heating contractor has to cut the old branch ducts in the basement and run new ones to fresh spots.
Richfield’s median home was built in 1959, and more than 1 in 5 homes date from before 1950. The 1940s added about 1 in 6, close to the share the 1960s added.
Postwar houses
Richfield’s postwar houses can hold vermiculite in the attic, plaster and joint compound on the walls, wrapped pipes in the basement and old tile on the floors, and MDH lists every one of them. A few lab samples tell you which ones are really in your house.
Renters and owners
Close to 4 in 10 occupied homes in Richfield are rented, and about 6 in 10 homes are one-unit homes. Landlords should plan for the full process, because the owner-occupant exemption does not extend to rented units, so they need testing, the state notice and a licensed crew.
Richfield’s demolition requirements sheet deals with the permit, sewer and water capping, wells, erosion control and site restoration, and it says nothing about asbestos. You need the demolition permit before any structure comes down, and the capping is inspected before the permit is issued.
County rules come on top of the state’s here. Hennepin County inspects before demolition in Richfield, and its ordinance requires asbestos removal before demolition or renovation. Expect the inspector to ask for your survey, the disposal manifests and receipts for the abatement.
Yes, when the job is big enough to be regulated, and Minnesota sets that size three ways. Friable pipe insulation counts by length, with licensed work starting at more than 10 linear feet. Friable material on any other surface counts by area, at more than 6 square feet. If the material can’t be measured by length or area, the cutoff is more than 1 cubic foot. Above any of those amounts, the job needs an MDH-licensed asbestos contractor.
Can I remove it myself?
That depends on who lives there. If you rent the home out, or it is a duplex or apartment building, there is no exemption at all. An owner-occupant of a single-family home may do the work with no license or permit fee, though MDH still strongly recommends a licensed contractor.
Does tearing down a house need an MPCA notice?
If it is a house of four units or less, MPCA’s demolition notice is not required unless the house was converted from a different use, a single owner is clearing several houses at a time, or the demolition belongs to a commercial development, highway or urban renewal project. MPCA does want ten working days’ notice for commercial buildings and any building with five or more units.
How soon can removal start?
Five calendar days is the minimum. The clock starts when the licensed contractor files written notice with MDH, and regulated removal can follow once that time has passed and the lab results are back.
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