Help! Asbestos | Mumsnet

CatherinedeBourgh · 03/11/2021 11:18

Any house that was renovated in the 70s will have asbestos.

It doesn’t do any harm if you don’t drill into it. They probably want to remove it, and asbestos will affect the cost of that.

Cattenberg · 03/11/2021 11:33

The bathroom in my last property had an artex ceiling and walls. It was starting to flake off, so I had it tested. The man who came to take the samples told me there was a 50% chance of it containing asbestos. Luckily, it tested negative. There was asbestos in a baseboard in the boiler cupboard, though.

I’m currently buying a property with a couple of artex ceilings. I’ll probably have them skimmed to cover it up.

Cattenberg · 03/11/2021 11:36

I’m a bit phobic about asbestos, but about 3/4 of properties for sale around here have artex ceilings, so it’s very, very common, unless the property was built recently.

GingerAndTheBiscuits · 03/11/2021 11:42

Testing isn’t hugely expensive but expect your buyer might try to haggle on price if they decide they might need to remove it.

GingerAndTheBiscuits · 03/11/2021 11:42

I’m currently buying a property with a couple of artex ceilings. I’ll probably have them skimmed to cover it up.

Doesn’t this risk an unwitting future buyer drilling into it without knowing there’s asbestos buried underneath?

ponkydonkey · 03/11/2021 11:45

I bought a house with artex asbestos ceilings and a wall
Testing cost about £100
And the removal was £3000

To re plaster £2/3000

We got 5k off the price of tte house which seemed fair

Cattenberg · 03/11/2021 12:04

@GingerAndTheBiscuits

I’m currently buying a property with a couple of artex ceilings. I’ll probably have them skimmed to cover it up.

Doesn’t this risk an unwitting future buyer drilling into it without knowing there’s asbestos buried underneath?

That’s the risk of drilling into any older property! No part of this property has been tested for asbestos - I did ask the solicitor.

If I sell the property, I could always provide details of any work carried out on the property information form.

Original poster

beguilingeyes · 03/11/2021 12:05

That makes me feel a bit better, thanks. I've got scope to drop the price a little.

OP posts:

Cattenberg · 03/11/2021 12:13

When I sold my last property, I did leave the results of the asbestos tests for the new owners. I didn’t mention it beforehand though, as they didn’t request a survey and they had a history of trying to gazunder me for spurious reasons.

BlueMongoose · 03/11/2021 20:41

Generally the best thing to do with it unless it is exposed/flaking or you have to break into it for other work is to leave it alone. I asked a plasterer about it just out of curiosity and he suggested that if a ceiling did turn out to have asbestos in it, the best thing to do was to plaster over it, rather than remove it.
By the same token, if you're taking a ceiling down that has artex on it, or you think may have it underneath, it's sensible to get it tested first, just in case.

Chumleymouse · 03/11/2021 21:07

Drilling into a artex ceiling that might contain a tiny amount of asbestos is not going to give you asbestosis 🙄
You have to exposed to it on a regular basis, sometimes for years to have serious health issues.

Chumleymouse · 03/11/2021 21:11

I’ve lost count of the number of artex ceilings I pulled down in the 80’s 90’s doing coal board subsidence work.

GingerAndTheBiscuits · 03/11/2021 22:43

I’m always wary of asbestos because my best friend’s dad died of mesothelioma in his early 60s having worked all his life as a solicitor, not a tradesman. His exposure was likely through his dad’s work uniforms in childhood as he was a shipbuilder, it just came back to haunt him many years later.

Username875645 · 03/11/2021 23:23

My dad had mesothelioma. Nasty horrible disease. Do not take any risks when dealing with asbestos.

Hairyfriend · 03/11/2021 23:30

I didn't even know asbestos was a thing until yesterday

Really??? You'd never heard of it or didn't know the dangers? Yes, many homes have it, but its still very dangerous if disturbed. I assume you didn't ask for a discount when you bought the house yourself? I was told a specialist can use a gel that is skimmed over the artex and it comes off. Or they plasterboard over it. No idea of costs though.

toffeeshock · 04/11/2021 10:41

@Hairyfriend

I didn't even know asbestos was a thing until yesterday

Really??? You'd never heard of it or didn't know the dangers? Yes, many homes have it, but its still very dangerous if disturbed. I assume you didn't ask for a discount when you bought the house yourself? I was told a specialist can use a gel that is skimmed over the artex and it comes off. Or they plasterboard over it. No idea of costs though.

I knew about it and had heard of the dangers (and heard of it being used in tiles in schools etc) but had no idea it was in artex, there was no warning of it being a possibility when we bought the house (built in the mid-late 80s). We had a leak which created a hole in an artex ceiling 10 or so years ago and left it for a while as we were having pipes put in for a new boiler and they redid the whole ceiling. At no point did any of the workmen mention the possibility of asbestos and there was dust absolute everywhere when they took the ceiling down!

Original poster

beguilingeyes · 04/11/2021 11:39

@Hairyfriend

I didn't even know asbestos was a thing until yesterday

Really??? You'd never heard of it or didn't know the dangers? Yes, many homes have it, but its still very dangerous if disturbed. I assume you didn't ask for a discount when you bought the house yourself? I was told a specialist can use a gel that is skimmed over the artex and it comes off. Or they plasterboard over it. No idea of costs though.

I'm not entirely stupid , of course I've heard of asbestos..and the dangers...hence the panic . I just didn't know that it could be in artex. It wasn't raised when I bought the house.

We have someone in today to test.

OP posts: