Evening,

Apologies if this is the wrong forum.... but I wondered if someone could tell me how widely used Asbestos is in older buildings- I know it can be used in garage roofs, artexed (sp?) ceilings etc but what other uses is it known for around houses?

I am currently looking at properties to buy and a couple of promising ones mention it (vaguely) in the home report/ survey (probably to cover themselves in some cases) and I wondered how costly it is to remove from an average ceiling/ roof for example?

Is it a job an untrained person can do with all the right PPE etc? Is there any systematic way of finding out if a room contains it, other than pulling a chunk of material out?

cheers
Jules

You can take it out yourself, however you need to deposit it at a waste centre which accepts asbestos.

Widely used in building applications from as you say, roofs, ceilings plus lagging, header tanks.............numerous applications. Also there are numerous applications where you shouldn't be concerned that asbestos has been used.

Ceilings, floor tiles, soil pipes, down pipes and gutters, flues, Fascia boards, boxings, pipe lagging, boilers and fires, roofs etc, etc, I would say there's a good chance of asbestos in most old buildings, but hardly any will kill you unless it's disturbed, and even then unly a small percentage is dangerous.

There a list somewhere on how to deal with it, f you suspect asbestos is present. check the HSE site.

I forgot water tanks.

used a lot in concrete segment construction for local authority housing in the 60 and 70s [edit dates corrected]
if the the work can be placed outside these decades then your less likly to have asbestos insulation
so iff you can find out when the work was done well outside these decades then you are probably relitivly safe if just outside then reserch asbestosis or asbestos

government guidance
http://www.netregs.gov.uk/netregs/11316 ... lAodnne7qg

asbestos was used for 50 years from 1940-1990 apparently

Iirc, asbestos was only banned in 2000 here.

Hi,

Asbestos was used widely throughout the 60's 70's and 80's, Blue asbestos "Crocidilite" is quite rare, Brown asbestos "Amosite" was widely used up until it was banned in the late 80's also white asbestos "Chrysotile" was widely used until it was banned in the late 90's, most houses built around theses era's will probably have some element in them containing asbestos although this doesn't mean that it has to be dangerous if left untouched and kept in good condition it is no more dangerous than anything else in your home. Removal can be very expensive and although the "Control of Asbestos at Work Regs" does not cover residential dwellings, i would not advocate removing anything yourself without getting it checked out first ie certain floor tiles and adhesive contained asbestos but these are fine to remove as the asbestos is contained in the binder element of the material and virtually impossible to extract and also Asbestos cement sheets which are quite common, if they are located outside and the correct PPE and procedures of work followed then this can be done by yourself, basically if you have to cut drill or break any of the object to remove it then i would steer clear and get someone in or take good advice on it.
A good guide to read is "MDHS100" or "Asbestos: The Survey Guide" which has now superseded MDHS100, this should give you a better understanding of Asbestos and what precautions you should take

Hi guys,

Thanks for all the info. I suppose the issue is if its that common then you could disturb it without realising it as lets face it most home owners aren't going to be able to tell you accurately which structures/ items contains it.... I appreciate it in some cases its hard to make it harmful depending on its form/ use, but I would certainly be wanting to get rid of 'textured' ceilings and I didn't realise it was so commonly used in those materials!- Whoever thought artexing was ever a good interior design choice needs their head checked anyway!
Unfortunately most of the houses I'm looking at are at least 40yrs old just because of the nature of the town's development (we want stay in town) and most newer houses are based on the outskirts so this means I can't really avoid encountering this stuff...

Hi,

It may well be prudent to factor in the cost of a type 2 survey for any of the properties you are keen on, and this will tell you exactly were asbestos is located around the property