Would you be concerned by this?

[ComeOnNow0]

I live in a 1930s semi. We have had some French doors put into the lounge which has involved having a new lintel put in. This had caused some cracking to the ceiling.

I have noticed that the ceiling in the lounge is lower than the rest of the rooms downstairs by about 5cm (possibly 6cm) which has made me wonder if it has been boarded over and replastered at some point. The only reason I can think that this would happen is because there was some ugly artex there before. In fact we bought the house off an investor who has done it up and modernised it so I guess hiding artex is one of the things that he would do!

I'm slightly concerned that the cracking in the ceiling would therefore release asbestos fibres (should there be artex and should it contain asbetos). It's not something that many people would notice but sadly someone close to us has recently died of an asbestos related disease so I'm on high alert for the stuff!!

would you be concerned by this or am I being somewhat OTT (as DH reckons I am!)

Oh and if anyone has any ideas how I could safely find out what's going on with the ceiling I would be very grateful. I was wondering if taking out the light fitting would reveal the layers of what's under there.

Is the cracking on the boarded over bit?

It's on the new plaster yes. I'm speculating that it's been boarded over as there's no visible artex but I can't think of any other reason why the ceiling would be lower...?

If there's a board between the Artex and the new plaster then it seems very unlikely that you'll be exposed to asbestos fibres. We just had our Artex plastered over with no board.

You can plaster straight over artex but it does run the risk of the whole things falling off. Plaster board is fairly thin so 5 cm seems lot.

Ah well it's been up for five years without a problem.

Hmmm ok so I've no idea if it is in fact boarded. That was speculation due to the lower height of the ceiling. I'd thought that maybe artex bumps + plaster board + skimming might add up to 5cm.

It would definitely at the least have been skimmed because as I said it was bought from an investor who had spruced it up and I think it was in a bit of a state before hand. The cracking is more than just a drying plaster crack iyswim, more due to movement. Hence my concern at not knowing what is under there

I mean this kindly as it's understandable to be a bit paranoid about something nasty affecting someone you know, but I think you are over reacting.
Even if there is artex underneath and even if it does contain asbestos (which seems unlikely from what you've said) there is minimal risk unless you plan to drill into it. Asbestos is only really a problem if you're making it into dust and even then repeatedly exposing yourself to the dust.

I think I'm concerned because it's more of a structural movement crack rather than a small crack. And I'm completely speculating about the presence of artex, let alone asbestos related artex. But I feel that due to the age of the property and the fact that we bought it off and investor, it's highly likely that the ugly stuff is under there.

I realise it's the disturbance of asbestos that causes the issue - id say this is a potential disturbance should anything be there.

I tell you though, if I hadn't have know someone who died from the horrible stuff recently, it would never ever have crossed my mind. Grrrrrr.

My understanding was that when asbestos was added to artex it was a tiny proportion.