White powder all over the place....

Nakatomi2010

I'm sure you're all tired of me starting new threads everywhere, and I apologize, but I am on vacation and sadly have more free time kicking around that I should to think and ask questions....


So, I've been living in the same apartment complex for a year now and ever since we moved in there's one thing that's been driving me stark raving mad.... There's this white powder EVERYWHERE.... It looks like it could be drywall dust, and personally I would've dismissed it after a couple of minths, but for over a year now this crap has been getting every where...

It's not dust either, this stuff is clearly white, and is grainy like some kind of material, not fluffy and grey like dust... And its everywhere.... You can see where I've half ass wipped stuff to check the substance, about a week or a month ago, and sure enough there's no buildup in addition to the further buildup ontop of what I didn't wipe off.... I don't know what this crap is....

Thoughts? It's even getting in area I didn't think it would be possible... It acts like dust, but it isn't dust, and I don't know where its coming from.... Should I scrape some up and perform some kind of burning test? Heavens knows there's enough around to make a crime lab think a cocaine explosion occured....

meeker

Popcorn ceilings. This stuff falls down when your upstairs neighbors jump around. Tell your landlord.

dlinfiniti

how old is your apt complex? If it is in fact the popcorn ceiling, then you might have a bit of trouble as 90% of the popcorn ceilings out there have abestos in them

VThornheart

Ugh, I *HATE* Popcorn ceilings.

EDIT: Incorrect content that I originally posted has been removed. I thought asbestos could only be in the insulation above the ceiling. Damn, I was wrong... http://realestate.msn.com/improve/article.aspx?cp-documentid=273335

You could very well have a situation on your hands. Contact your landlord immediately. That freaks me out a bit now knowing this... I've lived in places with shoddy popcorn ceilings. Ack.

Daenris

Is it everywhere or does it tend to accumulate more in some locations than others? Do you have central heat/air? At my previous workplace we always had problems with crap building up near/around the air vents, I suspect because the building didn't replace their filters often enough or just had a crappy vent system. Just a thought.

Nakatomi2010

Its more or less everywhere.... Our building was built in 2000, and the ceilings aren't popcorned... They appear to be textured....

Mushiwulf

Just for general knowledge, only certain applications of asbestos were banned in 1978. There are many construction products that are still allowed to use asbestos. Those applications are much much safer than the asbestos in older popcorn ceilings though because one is much less likely to come into contact with them and they are less likely to shed.

Daenris

Do you have central air though? You could try shutting it off or covering the vents and cleaning an area to see if that helps.

Does the textured ceiling come off? Like if you rub it, hit it, scratch it does any material/dust come off easily?

BRAINS!

If your rent is cheap, you may now know why...

ben0207

Cocain or old man semen.

Nakatomi2010

At $1030 a month, rent is not cheap... This complex is considered one of the nicer ones in the area... Perfect for any aspiring middle-class folks....

BRAINS!

It's been a year, Nakatomi, time to get to the bottom of this before they accuse you of making your own anthrax!

serious note though, have you asked any of your neighbors whether they have the same problems?

Nakatomi2010

BRAINS! wrote: »

It's been a year, Nakatomi, time to get to the bottom of this before they accuse you of making your own anthrax!

serious note though, have you asked any of your neighbors whether they have the same problems?

I live a private life, we tend not to socialize.... Well, not beyond listening through the walls and changing SSID names on networks....

The woman upstairs was crying in tears last night... And this other night a woman screaming NO to every advance the other person in the room was trying to make. Then one day a great THUD hit the ground, and nothing......

Yeah, I'd prefer to figure this one out myself...

BRAINS!

oooh, understand completely.

BRAINS!

oooh, understand completely.

Lindsay Lohan

Are there any recently vacant apartments in the building? I'm thinking that maybe they were sanding/painting/etc in an empty apartment and it got into your ductwork.

Daemonion

Try snorting some of it, record what happens, and report back here. The PA-HA Team will be standing by for analysis.



If this has been happening for a year though, I probably wouldn't tell your landlord that.