So there you are, a licensed contractor, preparing a bid on that fiftiesera ranch that the new owner wants to update, and you’re wondering what all that hairy-looking stuff on the family room ceiling is. And what about the wrappings on those pipes in the basement? They’ve got hairy-looking stuff in them, too. A nasty surprise is waiting for you — the ceiling has been sprayed with asbestos, and the pipes are wrapped with insulation that contains asbestos. Back in more naive days, asbestos was considered the new miracle fiber, and people were using it for everything. They didn’t just insulate with it, they did things like spray it on their ceilings for sound abatement and even decoration. Now we
