There’s Asbestos in the Tech House

Linus Tech Tips| 00:13:51|Mar 24, 2026
Chapters13
The team discusses starting work in the tech house and pursuing their shared dreams, setting the tone for their renovation project.

Linus Tech Tips tackles a chaotic “tech house” teardown, showcasing hazardous materials, DIY chaos, and a RoboRock assist to map and clean the space.

Summary

Linus Tech Tips dives into a chaotic build-and-teardown episode centered on a “tech house” filled with asbestos and lead concerns. Linus and crew race against time to clear crawl spaces and start demolishing flooring while acknowledging they’re not certified to handle hazardous materials. The sponsor-driven segment spotlighting Robo Rock’s SOS 20 powered by Starite 2.0 showcases how 3D time-of-flight sensors, an RGB camera, and precise navigation help a cleaning robot tackle tight crawl spaces. The team debates how far to push demolition before professionals take over, emphasizing the need for an engineer and proper hazardous-material handling. Throughout, the crew debates layout changes, electrical upgrades, and the potential for a central server closet, all while salvaging usable floors and cabinets where feasible. The episode threads humor with practical insight, noting how external walls and service routes influence future design, network drops, and appliance upgrades. There’s a candid look at gadget-era practicality—whether to save or ditch a working fridge, and how to integrate a Wolf stove into a modern workshop vibe. By day’s end, they acknowledge progress without crossing into hazardous areas, planning a future episode to install the workshop and finish the rest with pro help for the hazardous zones. Linus caps the session with a teaser of more to come as the team maps out the project milestones and gear upgrades.

Key Takeaways

  • Harmful materials are real: the team identifies asbestos in exterior walls, the laundry sink, and possibly a fireplace, signaling the need for professional handling.
  • Roborock SOS 20 (Starite 2.0) demonstrates advanced mapping and obstacle detection, using 3D time-of-flight sensors and an RGB camera to navigate a cluttered crawl space.
  • The crew recognizes limits: they will not DIY hazardous-material work and will bring in pros for asbestos and lead, focusing DIY tasks on non-hazard zones.
  • Early planning is critical: the team discusses consulting an engineer and rethinking interior layout before structural changes or major wiring upgrades.
  • Salvage versus renovation: they consider removing and reusing flooring/cabinet components where feasible, while planning full exterior-wall demolition where needed.
  • Tech-to-workflow balance: the episode blends entertaining clips with practical project management, laying groundwork for an eventual workshop build.
  • Future roadmap is hinted: the next episodes may cover workshop construction, electrical/network upgrades, and finalizing the hazardous-material scope.

Who Is This For?

Essential viewing for DIY home renovators and tech enthusiasts who want to see how a chaotic teardown is balanced with safety planning and gadget-assisted cleanup. It’s a primer on when to call in pros and how to map a path to a functional workshop space.

Notable Quotes

"It's time for us to take action on the tech house."
Opening line signaling the project’s bold, action-oriented direction.
"What does maybe mean?"
Household hazard assessment is uncertain, highlighting real risks.
"Asbestos in the exterior walls, the laundry sink, and maybe one of the fireplaces."
Identifies the hazardous materials present and informs safety approach.
"we're not trained or certified to deal with hazardous materials like the ones found in our report."
Explicitly states safety boundaries and reliance on professionals.
"check out everything Robo Rock has to offer at the link down below."
Promotional close that ties the episode to the sponsor’s tech solution.

Questions This Video Answers

  • How do you safely approach removing asbestos in a home renovation?
  • What is the RoboRock SOS 20 and how does Starite 2.0 help navigate tight crawl spaces?
  • When should you call professionals for hazardous materials in a home remodel?
  • What are practical tips for planning a home workshop in an existing house?
  • How do you decide which flooring or cabinets to salvage during a demolition?
Linus Tech TipsRoboRockSOS 20Starite 2.03D time-of-flight sensorsRGB camerahazardous materialsasbestosleadcrawl space demolition workflow
Full Transcript
Yeah. Got some work to do. You and I can make our dreams come true together in this tech house. Enough episodes of Yik Yak. It's time for us to take action on the tech house. I'M TEARING UP the joint. What? Hold on, buddy. You got to see this. Oh no. It could be worse. What's worse than asbestous? It's in the exterior walls, the laundry sink, and maybe one of the fireplaces. What does maybe mean? Then we've got the lead in the bathroom tiles, including in the brand new on suite, not to mention the rodent droppings that we already saw in the attic and in the crawl space. Well, I guess there's nothing to do but get started with some help from our sponsor, Robo Rock. And I got to give them credit. Not every company would want to deal with a mess like the one we're putting this into. But they approached the challenge with Gusto, sending over their new SOS 20 powered by Starite 2.0, which integrates 3D time offlight sensors, and an RGB camera for fast, accurate mapping, millimeter precise positioning, and advanced obstacle detection, which should be a major help as it navigates the challenges of our crawl space under the house. Quick thing, guys. Should I be hauling the big stuff out of here before we put the Robo Rock to work? I don't think it's going to be able to pick this up. Probably. Okay, while Linus is clearing out the crawl space, the rest of us are going to get started on the garage here. The shelves are not in terrible shape, but we can do better. Oh, this thing's nasty. This goes straight outside. There we go. So, the fact that this is here implies that there's a plug here. I don't see a plug here. There we go. I'm in too deep, boys. Well, this is interesting. My extension cord terminates into some hot glue and into some armor here, which has another cable coming out of it. That is freaking scary that just goes into another extension cord. Oh my god, the box is just open. Oh no, there's so much down here. This one's really coming apart. Oh man. Yeah. Yeah. I think that may have been past his useful life. All right. Good luck, little buddy. Okay. I can't wait to show the boys my treasures. How do I look? Camera ready. Camera ready. Exactly. As you guys know, I was down in the crawl space for a little while, but you'll be pleased to know that I brought treasures. One drumstick. No, I used to play drums. One hockey puck. I can't tell if this is a book. Maybe a cassette tape holder. Jordan, I'd like you to have a great day. Let's see which one of you Which one of you gets the ring? You know what, Pancrrets? Uh, would you want to see my favorite? It's really great. Oh, we got more. We just take these down. Got some fresh ones. My favorite. It's really great. If you were having trouble not laughing at that, this might help you. I can't resist. While our wonderful team has decades of combined experience destroying things, we are not trained or certified to deal with hazardous materials like the ones found in our report. So, we're going to be bringing in pros to deal with those problem areas. But that doesn't mean that we can't do anything. As long as we're not disturbing the areas that are flagged in the survey, we can still get started tearing this place apart. With that out of the way, it's time to tackle some of the flooring that's actually supposed to be in here. The carpeting that's in the living room and the dining room. And then while we're at this, I think we'll send team B to team one. We've got team A and team one. Yeah, we'll send team one over to do the bedroom. All right. Well, this is easy. How do you want to do this? We'll probably just have to cut down the middle. Seems to be working. I'm sure I'm doing this wrong. Thank you for your comments, YouTube. Jordan, I think episode 4 is going to have to be building the workshop. It might be. Yeah, we're not going to be able to do anything else until we equip the garage. God, is blue carpet in fashion these days? I think so. On that note, by the way, we did see all of your comments that you don't want to see this place turn into just like the dankst of gamer dens. And we're way ahead of you. Our profile of Ghee is that he either is in a relationship or has aspirations to be in a relationship someday. So, while we do want to make this place an absolute gamer haven, we also recognize that partner approval factor is extremely important. Let's just get this the hell out of here. All right, you're good. Think you could chill harder? Yeah. Yeah. You think so? Let's see it. Blah blah blah. Blah blah blah. Is he even miked? No. Okay. Bendy pivot. Pivot. That feels like progress, right? Made you like a pillow or a blanket or something. Good. But it feels good to lie down. You were just lying down in the crawl space. It last like 3 hours. I was not lying down there, sir. Your trail cam saw everything. Look how many freaking staples they put in this thing. How far are we taking this? Are we going like right to the studs? Are we going to go part way? Like what are we going to replace? Well, that really depends. I mean, when we did our initial consult with some of the ladies at the office, one of the first things that they brought up was, "Well, where am I going to put my full-length mirror?" And I was like, I never would have thought of that in 1,000 years. Right? So before we make any kind of structural changes to the interior walls, we a need to consult an engineer and b need to consult someone who has thoughts about a house layout. In the meantime, I can pull up some more carpet. Pull some more carpet for now. Okay. Ew, they put carpet on the wall. I never noticed that. That'sed up. Oh, good. They put the trim on over top of this carpet. No way. Did they? Trim is probably going to go anyway. You want to pull a chandelier out? We can. We'll have to hit the breaker, which means we won't have the light from the chandelier. This one don't have a ladder. Oh. Oh, yeah. We really need to start making a list of what needs to be in the workshop. Yeah. That's That might be the next video after all. We may have a couple. Oh, yeah. Now, Mr. Lionus, why don't you use the tool for the job? Oh, I literally just picked it up to get it out of my way. Listen, I wasn't doing this before. There's a drawing on the floor out of the fireplace. This was the plan for the fireplace. I'd say they executed it quite well. They're missing the windows. Oh, yeah. Where the windows are. So, real talk. When the demolition guys come in, they're doing obviously all the asbestos walls, but are they also just going to like demo everything? That's the idea. My thinking is we should go down to studs cuz then we have easy access for all of our electrical we have to upgrade. But there is a lot of drywall on these walls. That is also perfectly fine cuz there's going to be some rooms that we're probably going to barely touch. We're going to run like network and electrical probably everywhere. You're not going to need much to like the living room for instance. I mean, there tearing it anyway cuz that's all exterior walls. But maybe we can get away with just doing exterior stuff. But like this wall, this wall I think can go can go. I think you can push your kitchen in a little further. But then your dining room has no room. No one uses a dining room. What happens in your dining room? Let us know in the comments, guys. I think people do use their dining room occasionally. Do we want them to pull the floors then, though? H if we can salvage these, I'd like to keep them. The lenolium obviously is going to go. All carpet, all lenolium goes, but this vinyl plank, let's see if we can relatively new. It's pretty new. Okay. I'm going to make a hole in the wall. I'm thinking we'll put an AP probably here. This is going to be nice and central. Our servers are going to be likely in this room or in this closet here. A little bit undecided, but we can just go up and over the ceiling where right to here, but I think this will be kind of our central one. And then we'll fill in as we need later on. We don't know if we're going to end up changing the layout of the kitchen. This is a very old school layout and has next to nothing in terms of usable counter space. So, with that in mind, I think we should take the cabinets off in a non-destructive way. But I don't think these cabinets are going back in here. I want a water dispenser in the new fridge. Definitely. It's already plumbed in there. Oh wow. There's plumbing for it even. Um Oh wow. This fridge leaked at some point. Oh yeah. Oh, we're getting rid of it. I I mean I'm on the fence. It seems perfectly chromulent. No, get rid of it. Get a Wolf in here. What? Get something fancy. I feel like ghee is pretty pragmatic though, Ree. I don't think you'd get rid of a perfectly working stove like this. I don't know. I'm a ghee. I get rid of it. Okay, let's go to the garage. I love how unprogress progress can look like. Robo Rock asked nicely for us to show their vapor flow stick vacuum that also does steaming and stuff. Uh, let's have a look at how that basement one's doing. Wow, it's actually mapped it. Oh, wow. It made this. We didn't upload this. Yeah, that's just from now. Oh, that's sick. You know what? This is actually really useful. Come here for a second. Okay, here it is. Flashback to earlier when I found that weird armored cable thing downstairs. Right, this tells me exactly where to look for it. Right here. So, that's coming from the basement and it goes to Well, where the devil does that go? The fountain. The fountain. It powers the fountain. So, that's why the fountain doesn't work. It wasn't plugged into anything. Yes, that's the only reason. Now that we're getting to the end of the day, I think it's time to have a look at how our Robo Pal is doing down in the crawl space. Oh, yeah. It's got a lot of work to do still, but it's definitely better. Keep it up, buddy. The Serafos 20 utilizes Robo Rock's Dirt and Smart Plan technologies, enabling it to plan the most efficient cleaning path and adapt to unexpected obstacles and surface conditions instead of just blindly wandering around and bumping into things. And with Adaptive Lift 3.0 and Flexi Arm and an overall height of just 7.98 cm, the Sarah 20 can access in clean spaces that traditional robots might miss. Check out everything Robo Rock has to offer at the link down below. We're getting to the end of the day here, so I think we're going to have to call it, but we got a pretty good start on tearing this place apart. And we'll leave the uh hazardous materials like the asbestous and the lead to the pros who are going to come in and finish up. Once that's done, we're going to come in and uh start start working on stuff. There's so much fun. And I could make our dreams come true

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