A plaster query. How can I ensure that the properties I am looking at have no HORSE HAIR in the plaster?

[QuintlessShadows]

I must avoid at all cost.

In fact this is the primary reason we are looking to move. I have developed asthma, and it turns out I am allergic to the horsehair used to bolster the plaster in the walls.

How can I tell?

Haven't you moved from a very rural location back to London?
I'd have thought it was MUCH more likely to be pollution/air quality rather than horse hair within your property

In which case you're potentially throwing the baby out with the bath water. I'd buy an air purifier, get a hypoallergenic mattress and pillows and bedding. See if that helps for a fraction of the cost of moving house!!

Yeah I would investigate possible other allergen sources quite thoroughly before assuming it's the horse hair in the plaster. Alternatively, as others have suggested - is there a place in your house where the plaster is coming away and the hair is escaping?

Old furniture and I thiiiiink (could be 100% wrong) old flooring - lino/carpets can have horse hair, and those seem more likely to be releasing it into the air than the plaster, unless it's crumbling.

Do you have a loft? What is your insulation? Is it possible it's something in that, drifting through the house?

I agree with others above - I think very unlikely you would be having a problem with horse hair in well plastered and painted walls. You mention local houses being rennovated - could it be coming from the dust being caused by their rennovation? I agree that it could be moving back into London that's caused a problem. my asthma only appeared when I moved out of London but I am in the Home Counties and understand that we get a lot of fall out from London and the M25 and think that may have started it off - but I am also allergic to tree pollen which can start anytime from February onwards. Good luck.

We have laminate and tile flooring downstairs, allergy friendly wool carpets upstairs and on the staircase (cost a fortune), hypoallergenic bedding already. We dont have any old furniture. Wool rugs. I dont think the stopping in the Ikea Ektorp sofa is horse hair. It does not say so.

The walls are plastered, papered, and painted. There is no damaged plaster.

It's possible it's pollutants in the atmosphere. Have you checked your local readings?

www.londonair.org.uk/london/asp/publicstats.asp?statyear=2014

Putney High Street for example was a fail as was Barnes Wetlands. Check the nitrogen dioxide readings in your area.

I'm not a doctor or an allergist so obviously take their advice above mine but as far as I know, you have to come into contact with an allergen in order to react with it, so I don't think it can be the horse hair in the plaster, if none of it is escaping into the atmosphere and thus into/onto you.

I'm wondering if, while the allergy test showed horse hair, it's not actually horse hair that's causing the problem - ie, if you WERE coming into contact with horse hair, you would be allergic, but that your issues at home are caused by a different allergen entirely. Is that possible?

I have asthma and get a very quick topical allergic reaction to touching anything that has even been touching a horse. We have horsehair plaster in several points in our house - it was quite a problem for a few weeks after the ceiling fell down! We have had most of our walls re-plastered and the loft has been converted into a bedroom, so completely enclosed. I do not have any reaction on a day-to-day basis. I would say you need to look at every area of your house and make sure there is not any open walls - including your loft - our upstairs ceilings were all held on with huge wodges of horsehair plaster, we had been up in the loft sweeping and clearing up loose bits which caused the ceilings to come loose. I was more susceptible to wheezing and eczema before our loft conversion - even though I rarely went up there.

Could you be reacting to the wool carpets? Or that old asthma favourite, dust mite feaces.

Quint: worth checking the composition of your spring mattress - see
www.factory-beds-direct.co.uk/all-about-horsehair/

and this description of one of the referenced spring mattresses
www.andsotobed.co.uk/sublime-superb-mattress-divan.html#

which describes layers of horsehair, amongst other natural materials, between layers of springs.

BTW I'm hugely asthmatically allergic to quite a few things since 2011. I have an app on my phone for air quality / pollution highs, and there has been a correlation between high pollution and worse asthma for me. Going by the thread, I live in the same area as you (SW London)

I would be surprised it was horsehair in the plaster unless damaged and exposed. DH is extremely allergic to horse hair which triggers a severe asthma attack however he is fine in our house which has original horse hair lath & plaster throughout.
The only problem he had was when we got builders to remove a dividing wall, but after a through clean up & the re plastering of that space it was fine.

Please do not skim modern plaster over old plaster. Or seal it, old plaster is designed to breathe and let's moisture in and out if you seal or skim you will seal moisture in which can cause at best plastering to fail and at worse damp problems, DH is restoration specialist anand gets frustrated last attempts to seal lime mortar or plaster as it creates so many bigger problems

Horsehair in plaster will not be releasing any particles at all unless damaged in some way. Horsehair in plaster was in general use until 1940's and would still be used in restoration of period property if being done to listing standards.

I second what others say about looking at alternative triggers and at remedial work that you can do in your own home.

Do you have pets OP? I say this as an asthmatic with two cats. I love them to bits, but whenever I go away to a pet-free environment, I am amazed at what it's like to be able to breathe properly!! I, too, am very allergic to horses.

I also think it would be worthwhile for you to try whether a new home would help you before you move house. You could rent a place on Airbnb that is of new construction to see if you experience fewer issues there before you spend a lot of money trying to outrun the problem!

Quint - have you been to see an allergy specialist? Please ask for a referral if you can.

I thought for years I had hay fever and my season kept extending. February to November I was streaming and was constantly taking antihistamines and then in the winter I'd get loads of sinus infections and asthma problems.

After testing, found that it was actually a dustmite allergy (and fur and feathers, but had no pets at the time and in a new build house). Was put on singulair to prevent the asthma attacks, a stronger antihistamine and a nasal spray all year round and it made SUCH a difference. Asthma is now very well controlled, I still tend to get itchy skin around February-ish as the dust mites start breeding but none of the other allergy symptoms (unless I forget to take the pills!). I can even tolerate and enjoy a cuddle with other people's cats and dogs, no matter how fluffy!

Might that be worth investigating? It might be enough to allow you to stay in your own home?

I have just had my GP appointment and she will do blood tests for thyroid functions.

She agreed that the horsehair would not be the reason, unless they are disturbed through redecoration/building work. She said that Thames Valley and London was on top for respiratory problems, and asthma and allergies, and she was confident the cause to my problems is found in the environment. Damp climate and pollution.

So, any move would be out of Thames Valley, so where?

www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/ng-interactive/2014/apr/25/disease-and-environmental-factors-across-england-and-wales-mapped map for England and Wales showing pollution concentrations if that helps. I suspect highlands of Scotland might also be fairly low pollution.

Probably worth trying allergy treatments first to see if they suit before going through the expense and upheaval of a move.

I hope you find some symptom relief soon, that constant feeling of not being able to breathe properly is deeply scary :(

(Though, thinking about it, if you're trying to avoid damp climate, maybe everywhere in the UK is ruled out!)