We live in a rented property, and due to major condensation issues the landlord has agreed to fit an extractor fan in the bathroom. The electrician – chosen by the letting agent – has said that the only way to do it is to drill through the ceiling, as drilling through the wall is either too messy if done from inside, or too dangerous if done from outside as he doesn’t have a tower scaffold and would be up a ladder (!). The house is a 1984 semi, with Artex ceilings, and the advice (from the HSE, Asbestos Information Company, etc) is to assume that the Artex contains asbestos and take precautions accordingly. DH, who runs a construction company, spoke to the electrician last night to raise this and got told that ‘it had never been a problem before’, and that ‘it was very low risk’ – basically the electrician got quite aggressive and said that if we weren’t happy he could tell the letting agents that we’d changed our minds about wanting the fan. He finally said that he would use a vacuum extractor for the dust, but I gather from the official advice that there should also be heavy-gauge protective sheeting, and disposal of the waste as hazardous. (Frankly he can wear PPE or not, as he chooses.)
I have emailed the letting agent, asking them to confirm in writing that the work will be entirely asbestos-safe (although in hindsight I should have spelt out what exactly that means, as I suspect the electrician will hand-wave that yes, it’s perfectly safe, and the letting agents will simply pass on his assurances). DH has said that as his company owns a tower scaffold, he can ask his contractor to do the job from the outside, thus negating the need to drill through the ceiling at all, for the same quote as the electrician – is there any reason why this would seem unreasonable to the landlord/letting agent? (DH’s company is a reputable one with all relevant insurance etc, although normally they do bigger domestic extensions etc, not odd jobs.)
Also the electrician said, ‘Whoever put the spotlights in must have cut through the ceiling’, which is true (albeit not an argument to support his position). He replaced the spotlights last year, when our DD was a newborn, and now I am antsy and furious about the possibility that he enlarged or re-cut the holes with the same blithe insouciance, leaving the dust… Argh. DH is not overly concerned, but reassure me anyway if you can bear to!