Asbestos removal

[adell]

I was wondering whether anyone has had to have asbestos removed from their house. We have some under the stairs, which is apparently safe as it is, but needs to be removed to replace the boiler. I had heard it was expensive to do, but I've just had a quote for 1540 pounds, which seems pretty steep as there isn't that much. I'm going to get some more quotes, I just wondered if anyone had had something similar.

Many thanks

We looked into it (we had a sixties house with it round the boiler too but we were keeping the boiler) and got a quote in the same order of magnitude. The problem is that it's very tricky to safely remove, and the disposal costs are high for them. I would recommend you got more quotes, but that amount doesn't surprise me in the slightest, tbh.

We decided to leave ours as it was safe as it was and the boiler was still going strong. Then we moved and it was no longer an issue (Moving is a bit of an expensive way to solve the problem though, not recommended!)

Thanks GeorginaA, at least I know that is pretty much what they charge. This is our 4th house in 5 years and I've promised DH faithfully that I won't suggest moving again for another 10 years & DD has banned me from looking at houses in the paper ! The boiler's over 30 years old so it really has to go - it's back to Lidl for my shopping again I guess!

Poor you! Houses are real money sinks, aren't they?! BTW, I wouldn't recommend just going for the cheapest quote either, double and triple check that they are really qualified for the job. You really don't want asbestos fragments flying around because the people removing it didn't really know what they are doing!

The other thing to check is to ask your local council if they have recommended people to remove asbestos. Croydon council certainly had some sort of hazardous waste department, I assume it's a standard thing.

This is happening to us right now too. OUr boiler is shot, very old and needs replacing. But we found asbestos there,in some cupboards, and around the overhang outside the house. We had a survey done which put it as low risk, and when we got a boiler man round for a quote, he said he was used to finding asbestos when replacing boilers, and as long as it was kept wet when being removed it would be ok. He had no problems with replacing our boiler with it there. Now I just have to get him booked, looking like New Year!

I've just been looking at our councils website & I'm going to see if they can send someone round to check it so we know exactly what it is. My boiler man looked a bit freaked out when he saw it, bless him ! I think he regretted coming, he's my friend's husband and a really embarrasing situation occurred when he saw our rather ancient waterheater. Apparently it's illegal and he should have condemned it on the spot, but we've got 10 week DS so he really didn't want to. Combined with the asbestos, it didn't go very well !! Think I'll get him to fit an electric heater to the hot water tank to buy as time as I feel a little too sleep deprived to sort this in a hurry.

Oh the joy of house ownership. Thanks for all your help. Hope the boiler replacement goes smoothly lou33.

LOU 33, IMO that man is talking bollox. Asbestos should only be removed by a licensed remover. The reason for this is that when they move it, it gives off little tiny bits that can stay in your lungs forever. They eventually cause something called 'asbestosis'(sp).

Please please please make sure that your asbestos is removed safely. don't listen to anyone who says that removing it when wet is correct. What a wally. He will breathe it in himself.

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Wiltshire, we had it inspected by the recommended council company, and they said that most bolier fitters wouldn't have a problem taking it out either. They said keeping it wet stops the fibres from floating around too. Tbh if he has been told about it, seen it and is still willing to do it then he can. We will disappear for a while.

It's not flaking either, there is blue brown and white asbestos, ours is the lowest risk, and he was corgi registered, which is v hard to find nowadays.

Don't worry about it. The whole asbestos thing is a big big mountain out of a molehill. The only people who ever suffered from asbestos were factory workers in direct daily long term contact. It's a bit like cigarettes...they give you cancer if you smoke them regularly. If you have dinner with a smoker and breathe in a little 2nd hand smoke, it might be unpleasant but it isn't going to give you cancer. Just consider yourself lucky that you have a sensible plumber.

I work for a central heating firm and asbestos does have to be removed by a licenced firm. When we come across it we subcontract out to our preffered remover so the customer doesn't have to find anyone. Can't remember the average cost I'm afraid.

It used to be really common in the industry for workers just to remove asbestos but it is now against regs.

We had a lot of asbestos removed from our house just before we moved in, and there are very strict regulations they have to adhere to. They had to set up a 'tent' outside the house to decontaminate themselves in before they could go out the house, and had to wear special suits etc. I would be very careful about who you get to do it, and only go with legit. people. One of the things they should do is an air count to see how many fibres of asbestos they can find in the air after they've removed it. They do a big vacuum up at the end, and that should get rid of most of it.

HTH!

Sorry Sofia but I have to disagree, I thought that even one fibre in your lungs can lay dormant for years but then make them bleed. Correct me if I am wrong but I work in old buildings where I have to get suspected Asbestos sites checked & taped off until they are declared safe.

Well, the asbestos specialists said we had nothing to worry about, so I am not going to worry.

Like musica our house had tents set up leading from the heating cupboard to outside, men in special suits and long hose things pumped into a truck.
Ours is a council house and was done by the council as they put radiators in and took the old heating system out. No idea of cost sorry.

We have blue asbestos on the outside walls of our council flat, and the council will not remove it unless it is damaged in any way, the painters have just finished painting it, and they were told not to pick at the pidgeon poo on it, so instead they have painted on top of it. Inside the house, we have white asbestos lyno tiles on the floor, with under floor heating. My kids have asthma! I wonder why???? And I remember watching on TV about the removal of asbestos, it is expensive, and it has to be made safe as well, thats where the cost builds up.

My dh is a marine engineer and disgrees vehemently with your statement, Sofia. It simply isn't true that the only people to suffer from asbestosis are those who work long term in the industry. Marine engineers, those in the motor trade, people who have served on warships and even the wives of asbestos workers have all suffered the terrible consequence of mesothelioma, sometimes years after their exposure. It's what the actor Steve McQueen died of it, having briefly been in the US navy.

Dh echoes that it should only be removed by a licenced company and that a central heating engineer, even a Corgi one, is not competent unless he/she is also licenced, (which is pretty unusual). Blue asbestos is the most dangerous type, btw.

Suedonim, I am glad for your response!!!
I am just coping a few sentences from a paper
Thorax 2001;56:250-265 ( April )
BTS statement

Statement on malignant mesothelioma in the United Kingdom
British Thoracic Society Standards of Care Committee
The incidence of mesothelioma has been rapidly increasing since its first description in 1960. It is expected to increase over the next 20 years from the present total of 1300 to more than 3000 cases per year in Britain.
..women who have laundered their husband's overalls.

Thank you for all the advice. I'm waiting for the local environmental health department to ring me with the names of contractors approved by them. I don't like the idea of trusting a company out of Yellow Pages which I know nothing about and would feel more confident if they've been recommended by the council.

After a discussion with the plumber we can at least go ahead as we've currently got a warm air system and we'll be changing to radiators and a combi, which will be in a different place to the current boiler. He can just disconnect the old boiler without disturbing the asbestos thank goodness, which buys me a bit of time to sort it all out.

hi sorry if i am repeting any one but thereare alot of posts and i did not read them all. i hade a problem whith asbestos in my last house the entire estate that i lived in was just torn down because of it the type of asbestos we had in our walls was called asbestolux and is normaly safe if undesterebed however if it is damaged in any way the fibers cause low level exsposhure which can cause all sorts of problems like asma or asbestosis. there is an asbestos advisary council who are very good. but it can be very costly to remove asbestos.
if any one knows warrington then it was anson close and blenim close that were torn down but that was because every intirior wall was made from the stuff (nice and safe) and even striping wall paper can disterb the fibers. so if i was u when they are removing it i would move out for a bit.

i just read survivours post and the counsil in warrington also first refused to remove the asbestos in our estate and it took me nearly a year of herassing them and going door to door to get them to do any thing and even then it was only because i managed to get some leaked documents from a contracter who new about a servay they had had done on the estate that said the whole estate needed to be condemed and i took them to a lawyer and then to the gardian and to wire fm (a local station) so keep at them and they will have to do some thing in the end. good luck

The dangerous asbestos is the blue kind, white is not dangerous. Blue asbestos should be removed with a lot of care and yes its best to get a specialist in. As a geologist I've chipped white asbestos out of a rock face, but I would be loathe to go near blue without serious protection. To provide a slightly more scientific explaination, think of asbestos as a crystal. Blue asbestos breaks down into far smaller shards than white and therefore can be inhaled into the lungs, to put it into real laymans terms think of it like the difference between ordinary glass and saftey glass (safety glass manages to break with no sharp edges). Its a good idea to have contacted the council and to be getting quotes from their recommended builders. If its blue asbestos then its not a bad quote however if its white (more likely) then unless the job is particularly trickey then I would say that's a very high quote. People tend to hear the word asbestos and immediately panic. We're currently buying a house to develop. The survey has just come back informing us that there is an asbestos water tank. This is white asbestos and quotes have been in the region of 400.00. We do not have to remove it, however it will make it a whole lot easier to sell the property in a few months time if we simply get rid of it and put a new one in.

Hope I've helped.

sorry but i have to disagrey with Wills there is no sutch thing as safe asbestos just because white asbestos is more stable and dose not brake down as easly as blue it is still dangorus when disterbed this is why it is no longer used in domestic bilding (safty glass might be safer as it is disighned to brake in a diferant manner to plate glass but u still would not let your kids play whith it.)

Sorry m1, if I came across as saying the white asbestos is perfectly safe then I appologise, but then I would not allow my children to play with safety glass shards either . There is a debate that white asbestos could be harmfull and therefore I would not recommend that someone remove the stuff themselves by going at it with a hammer etc. However removal of white asbestos does not need the same level of precautions as blue/brown. Blue asbestos breaks into tiny straight shards extremely easily and has to be removed very careful by experts. White asbestos can be removed far easier without increasing the risk and therefore I was trying to let adell know that her quote might be a little high.

To quote current guidelines from the government:

1. Does one fibre kill?
   Abestos fibres are present everywhere in the air at very low levels. This means that everyone is breating in a very low level of fibres all the time. The small burden of fibres resulting from this background exposure appears to be well tolerated, so the theory that one asbestos fibre kills is unfounded.

2. Just how dangerous is asbestos?
   Asbestos is a mineral substance that can split into many tiny fibres. When present in the air, these fibres can be inhaled into the lungs where they may lodge. If sufficient fibres are inhaled they can lead to diseases such as asbestosis, lung cancer and another type of cancer called mesothelioma. Crocidolite (blue asbestos) and amosite (brown asbestos) pose a greater risk than chrysotile (white asbestos), which the most common type of asbestos found in buildings. The exposures encountered by members of the general public outdoors or in their homes are very low and unlikely to present any risk. Nevertheless, it is wise to take precautions if you are handling any substance you suspect may contain asbestos.

(For me at least this one was interesting)
3. I have a water tank made from asbestos cement. Is it safe?
Even if fibres are being released into the water, there is no evidence that expsoure to asbestos in drinking water has any adverse effect on health at all. The outer surface of the tank is usually in a relatively inaccessible place and so should remain in good conition. If access around the tank is needed at frequent intervals then sealling the survace with a decorative or other finish may be a sensible precaution.

White asbestos is the only type of asbestos still marketed in the UK. It can commonly be found in products such as roofing tiles, and profiled sheets. However the Government is currently reviewing whether or not these products should also be banned.

m1 - I am not saying that white asbestos is so safe that children could play with it. However I am saying that it is by no means as dangerous as blue/brown and that adell should not be frightened by it and also that given the lower level of precautious that a builder/specialist would have to use to remove it I am surprised by her quote. However since I've not seen the job possibly there's a level of complexity that nessitates (sp?) that expense.

Just thought I should copy another part of this:Thorax 2001;56:250-265
British Thoracic society statement

Statement on malignant mesothelioma in the United Kingdom
British Thoracic Society Standards of Care Committee

There is no evidence for a threshold dose of asbestos below which there is no risk. However, the risk at low levels of exposure is small. There is no significant risk from asbestos in place in buildings provided it is well sealed and not releasing dust.6 All types of asbestos can cause mesothelioma. Amphibole fibres, of which the commercially important examples are crocidolite (blue asbestos) and amosite (brown asbestos), are the more potent causes. There has been much debate about the aetiological role of chrysotile (white asbestos). However, a recent WHO review has concluded that chrysotile asbestos does, indeed, pose an increased risk of mesothelioma in a dose dependent manner7; this form of asbestos is also the most widely used. There is no evidence that mesothelioma can be caused by either fibreglass or other building materials, cigarette smoking, or intrapleural talc.