OMG I did not know this!!!! Did you?

[Treegle]

I've just discovered that it's possible for artex to contain asbestos!! I never knew this! And my dad worked as a painter and decorator for many years!! Is this common knowledge?!!!

Oops, blue, white, brown asbestos, not artex.

@Staycalmandscream I would say it should be the builder who would flag the need for asbestos testing up. The lab where I work charges £25 for one sample with same day results. If lots of samples are done a discount could be negotiated. I’m sure you’ll get different prices if you search online and phone round, but make sure whichever company that does it is UKAS certified, which should ensure it is properly tested

Anyone who takes their own sample - about a desert spoon is needed, if the area is damped down this reduces the risk of any particles flying around and a piece can be scraped or broken off. The sample should then be double bagged (sealable food bags are perfect) and labelled.

@over50andfab thank you. Our builders were cowboys.
Still surprises me building control don't say to get testing as they were entering the house regularly. And I had very young children here when the work was in full swing.

I didn't know it but it didn't massively surprise me and it's the sort of thing I'd expect a decorator to know.

If I lived in a house more than 30 years old and a decorator told me "that's going to be expensive, because asbestos", I would be annoyed at the extra cost but not surprised.

Now if it’s plastered over who on earth knows it’s there? Just considering plastering the kitchen - we had a leak in the shower above, luckily it was from the shower tray and the plumber fixed from above. The ceiling below is Artexed, he said if he’d had to go from below he’d have had to refuse unless we had a certificate proving it was asbestos-free. Would be unethical to deliberately plaster it but then surely they must go to loads of houses with no Artex not knowing it’s under the plaster?

Housemum, this is why when asbestos testing is done, we always advise people to dig through all the layers, as who knows what is underneath. Ditto with flooring.your lumber knew this, as would any good tradesman.

*plumber even!

I work for a plumbing firm. Our lads have to do asbestos awareness courses every year and we are licensed to do certain things (those lads have to go for medical)

All commercial properties should have an asbestos register and we ask to see it before commencing work.

Sudden shivering - I’ve had a cold for two day’s and tonight came to bed when I started shivering and shaking violently. I’ve taken some cold/flu tablets. I’m worried as have had pneumonia in the past and thus has come on so suddenly. Could it still be just a bad cold? Starting to feel hotter now so maybe temp setting in.

My house was artexed in early 90s (hallway, living room, dining room) and we used wallpaper streamers to scrap it off (was kept very wet and cleared up whilst still wet). We didn’t use masks apart from when clearing up so we didn’t breathe in any dust. At that time we weren’t aware it could contain asbestos; we found out just afterwards. But, it is advised that if removing to keep it damp to limit dust so hopefully we’ll be ok!

Due to the low risk with artex (typically contains 1-5% asbestos or something like that) you don’t need to have it professionally removed; you are however advised to follow certain guidelines. That alone reassures me.

Fingers crossed for the future!

Yes. Have moved a few times and it always comes up mentioning asbestos. However, I believe that forms of asbestos, when intact are ok. However you need check out types of asbestos.

I knew - but not before I'd attempted to take down the truly awful ceiling that a previous owner had 'creatively' covered in asbestos. Looked like a relief map of the alps ...

Yes, we spent £10k getting it removed from our house. We wanted to knock walls down etc so we were disturbing it so it had to go before we could start work. We knew it was likely to be in a couple of places. We didn't know it would be everywhere!

I did know, because when we had a leak through the utility room ceiling the insurance company ordered a test. It came back negative (late 80s house). They ordered the builder to patch the hole and then skim and paint over the artex.

Yep, knew this.
Found out 3 - 4 years ago. Was equally horrified.

@Soccermum13 it is probably just a bad cold or a reaction to all the dust. Mesothelioma doesn’t present with a sudden onset, it starts decades after the exposure (usually) and is more of a slow-burn, fairly non specific symptoms. That’s what can make it hard to diagnose initially.

bubblegum it sounds like what you were picking at was good, old fashioned, wood chip wallpaper.

When we redid our old bathroom, in the last house, they opened up a wall cavity within the first half an hour and there was a giant slab of asbestos in there with a caution sticker over it. No reason for it to be there apparently according to our builder. He carefully put it in the front garden in some thick bags until he could have it disposed of shortly after. Not a good start to the project!

Yes I would have thought this was relatively common knowledge.

Quite safe if you don’t disturb it.

Asbestos was only banned completely in 1999, so basically if your house was built before then it's got asbestos somewhere in it!

Having had an aunt die of mesothelioma I know how awful it can be. My dad used to do artexing, so that's at the back of my mind.

Came up in our survey, wasn't particularly bothered as we weren't going to touch it.

When we moved again we had a gas fire taken out of the living room (it was either that or put a hole through the wall for ventilation when the cavity wall insulation was done.). Behind it was a sheet of asbestos. Damped it down, carefully removed it, triple bagged it and put it in the garage before calling the council and checking where we could take it. It had probably been there for 50 years, never touched and it was undamaged.

In my grandparents belongings (it was their house we moved into), I found a small booklet extolling the virtues of asbestos and all the marvellous things you can use it for.

This thread has been life changing. Been really worried since learning about artex. I think having now read up on asbestos it looks like we could have asbestos vinyl tiles on the kitchen floor under the self adhesive wood-look ones the last owners put on top. And thick black stuff under the vinyl tiles that again from reading up could be asbestos-containing adhesive.
We've lived with broken artex edges where the knock through happened for years and at 2 doorways (work stopped due to builder issues & other things). My children have grown up in this house like this, since being tiny. I'm struggling to comprehend the risk & how not 1 person ever raised it. We've had building control, builders, electricians, structural surveyor, and years back kitchen fitters via insurance when cupboards fell off an artexed wall. No one ever mentioned this & all these people worked around the broken artex without ppe. In shock & feeling very worried about the years of exposure for my children & me. Spent half the day vacuuming & wiping surfaces with wet wipes.
If the kitchen ceiling, walls and floors are asbestos, it's also going to cost a fortune to remove I'd have thought. Any one have any idea? Feel so stressed over this. So scared about our health. This should be mandatory info when buying a house or to get a survey done prior to building work.

Don't panic. As others have said you can pay to get it tested, and obviously don't sand any of it in the meantime.

Remember workmen are at greater risk because they will come into contact with it a lot more frequently than you, and will be drilling, sanding etc.

Yes I know. It's just the amount of dust that fell back in the day & with 2 little ones I didn't have the time to clean as thoroughly as I should have. It's just me & them. One of the kids rooms is above the broken ceiling artex & when they'd thud upstairs u can hear a spinkle of what I thought was just plaster dust fall the width of the kitchen. I couldn't always get the vac out there & then, if cooking etc or if late. If I'm honest there's times it might not have been done in the kitchen for days. And probably not along shelves etc, mostly the floor I focussed on. The choronic historic exposure is keeping me up at night.
To think the cat litter dust wahas always ben my biggest generally worry. That's nothing next to this.
I'll call some places on Monday to discuss what's best to do.

@Staycalmandscream I know you're worried but honestly try not to be. I was worried because I scraped some off myself. I've now done plenty of research and artex is so low risk. The fibres are so well bonded within the matrix that they're not likely to come cleanly free again. If you think about putting a piece of cotton wool in some paint and then letting it dry - you'd never get a clean strand of cotton if you started breaking it up. Same with artex. Also the percentage is really low. Apparently same for tiles and the glue.

So while there may have been plenty of dust, it wouldn't have been "dangerous" dust.

Also artex contains Chrysotile which is the least dangerous type and can been broken down in the lungs.

The people that get ill tend to have worked with it daily for years - breathing in clouds of blue and brown asbestos.