Our House Contaminated By Appliance Installers

We bought a new oven and paid for installation by the appliance company. They came and measured, assumed it wouldn’t need modification.

On the day of installation, the contractor cut the dry wall behind the oven cutout without asking, caused a spill of vermiculite insulation (asbestos). They didn’t tell us what happened and when we looked, they claimed it was not asbestos. They then cleaned it up improperly, using a vacuum which blew that stuff all over the house.

I immediately asked my wife and 2-year to vacate the house. Stopped the contractors but it was too late. Later the insulation was tested positive for asbestos.

Asbestos abatement company measured the air in different areas of the house, all were over EPA maximum allowance for schools (asbestos level should be 0 at homes). They recommended full abatement of the house and discarding all porous materials since we have a toddler.

Total potential damage is over $30k. Not counting lost wages, time and efforts, potential health risks. We’ve been living in hotels, friend’s basement and looking at short term rental. Been hell of a week.

Do we have a case here? Just hoping to get home back to normal.