Pollutants 1950s single-family house massive construction

So, I now have an offer for an inspection with an expert and laboratory staff, who will then take samples where they suspect pollutants and analyze them. Completely for 1400€. Is the price okay? Does anyone know?

So, I now have an offer for an inspection with an expert and a laboratory employee, who will then take samples where they suspect pollutants and analyze them. Completely for €1400. Is the price okay? Does anyone know?

Completely means including VAT?
How many rooms will be inspected?

I have heard of parquet adhesive

With parquet adhesive, as already mentioned, it is about polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). These were especially contained in tar-containing parquet adhesives. Used mainly until the mid-60s in large-scale parquet flooring. For small parquet strips, other adhesives were already switched to by the late 50s.

You can also do a simple preliminary test yourself, especially if something is loose or missing anyway. Remove one strip/piece. If the parquet adhesive is NOT black, i.e. gray or brown, it is not a tar-containing adhesive.

If it is black, it is by no means dangerous. Especially from the late 50s onwards, bitumen was used as an adhesive instead of tar. The PAH content in bitumen is only a fraction of that in tar, and the emissions are correspondingly low or harmless. The switch to other adhesives was mainly because these simply became better. There was no ban on bitumen-containing ones – bitumen-containing adhesives are still used today, e.g., for basement waterproofing and insulation bonding.

Apart from laboratory testing, tar-containing adhesives can be easily detected by smell. The smell of tar is clearly different from bitumen and distinctly more irritating/sharp to the nose. Of course, this does not provide 100 percent certainty.

Expert and laboratory staff who then take samples where they suspect pollutants and analyze them.

If it is only about determining a specific pollutant (e.g., PAHs in house dust), sending in a self-taken sample is significantly cheaper, on the order of €250. If it is about a general clarification of pollutants, an inspection with an expert certainly makes sense. Without knowing the exact scope, nothing can be said about the price. I would also define this precisely beforehand, i.e., what will be tested with which limit values. Why? Does this make sense given the construction age and conditions?

Besides PAHs, under given conditions, solid buildings from the 1950s are generally not particularly contaminated. Later renovations may of course have introduced other materials.

By now I have doubts that the house was built in the 50s.

I agree with that – however, the mentioned wall thicknesses would also be atypical for earlier decades; I suspect the renovation architect took the measurements "roughly." Typical (for before the Second World War) would only be to taper the walls upwards – then, however, 38 cm in the basement and 25 cm on the ground and upper floors. Are the walls possibly not monolithic but have an air layer?

It is clearly visible that, contrary to the plan, the existing roof was slid off instead of changing the roof structure. Does this also apply to the floor plan? - Sliding off is the more practical way if the extension does not go along the entire eaves side.

Thanks for including it! Uh... what do you mean by that? What is an eaves side? The area was not expanded on the upper floor/roof structure, if that's what you mean. Unfortunately, I can't embed (how does that work?), so here is an external link again.

I agree with that - but the mentioned wall thicknesses would also be untypical for earlier decades; I suspect the renovation architect estimated the measurements "by rule of thumb." Typical (for before the Second World War) here would only be to taper the walls upwards - then, however, 38 cm in the basement and 25 cm on the ground and upper floors. Are the walls possibly not monolithic, but have an air gap?

Unfortunately, I do not know that. Well, we’ll wait and see what the seller says. The 15 cm on the upper floor should be correct.