To feel incredibly incredibly upset and stressed about this? What would you do?

[amiacame]

In August we found out that our house has asbestos sheets in the roof. We have lived here for only 8 months and it wasn’t picked up on the survey. We’ve been told that they are the sheets that were there when the house was built and so in the next few years the roof will need doing. There’s bit of the roof that are already in not great condition as it is. We need to move again next year and don’t have the money to fix this at the moment and whilst the inspection report said that these sheets were secure, they don’t look in perfect condition to me and I am now terrified my little girl who is 1 has been exposed to asbestos. I feel sick. I can’t sleep and just want to escape but we can’t until we sell. I feel like we’ve put her whole life at risk and I’m getting migraines from the stress. Does anyone have any experience of this sort of thing and how much risk we have posed to our daughter? I’ve attached a photo

@Mozza77 😂😂 I actually did laugh reading that… reminds me of a Tom and Gerry scene!!! Thank you for chatting though, it sounds silly but I have begun to feel a bit more comfortable about it all. The guy seemed really knowledgable and very calming about it all (wasn’t trying to scare me into doing anything unnecessary), I just don’t get why he even took the sample at all as he specifically said he could see clearly that it was! Do you think he just takes a sample as standard to be part of the survey? He also said while he was up there he ‘sealed it with caulking.’ Is that standard to do that? From the photo it doesn’t seem like a board to me but that’s how it is described in the report. I’m obviously still thinking about this a little bit but I am a LOT better than last week 😅

@Mozza77 Jerry not Gerry!

Glad it’s made you smile a little.
yep, you can seal it with anything you like, rolled out marzipan, nail varnish, caulk, as long as it creates a barrier that won’t degrade, and we all know marzipan will survive the world melting along with cockroaches (evil stuff)
he’s obliged to take a sample, as ‘we’ need that information should ‘we’ do any work so we can take the appropriate safety measures. When we KNOW there’s asbestos, and we KNOW where it is, what type, how much etc then that will be reflected in our risk assessment and method statement for undertaking the works to keep EVERYONE safe. They are cutely known as RAMS.
Asbestos is actually a really good fire stop material, hence why it’s blooming everywhere. The risks didn’t become apparent for years and it’s now being replaced when it’s needed to be. Operative word, needed.
The littler spaniel has spent today trying to catch the robin that’s taunting her, she now resembles a drowned rat and has tracked mud everywhere, the big one has sensibly stayed inside with me by the fire as I revise (happy to say I’ve just managed 100% on a mock - wish me well for tomorrow at 10am!)

We didn't know we had asbestos in the artex for 20 years during which time we had installed ceiling fans, moved walls and generally messed bits of it up. One guy basically told us it was a death sentence and we were doomed. More sensible people told us it was so minimal it didn't matter. I agree there is a huge scaremongering industry.

If it's not disturbed then the risk is absolutely minuscule.

If you are anxious and need to do something, you can paint over it with diluted PVA glue. This will seal any edges and form an additional barrier.

But really it's not needed.

As long as you aren't drilling into it or removing it you'll be ok.

People have lived in houses built with asbestos since the 1930's with no ill effects, because it's a very stable substance unless it's drilled into or damaged by force.

@protectthesmallones thank you. My residual worry now is the fact a sample was taken! I’m less worried that it’s actually in the house. I feel like the sample has given it change to spread 🤦‍♀️😅 I will find anything to worry about!

@Phase2 yes when you Google it it’s terrifying! I also looked at a few mumsnet threads and that was scary too!!

@Mozza77 he did seem really nice and genuine and the company had so many good reviews and how he was at the house really reflected those reviews. I am clinging onto this residual worry that he’s caused damage by taking the sample in the first place… would he have drilled in? Also why do they call it a board when it doesn’t look like a board in the picture (I hadn’t gone up to see it in real life when he was here, I refused 😂).

Thank you for the spaniel update… it’s made me smile and I can say hand on heart that I’ve never spoken (written!) to anyone so lovely on here, so thank you. I understand the posters saying get help for anxiety and it is something I will do but the reality is that a lot of fear, especially here, is lack of understanding. I like to understand things and often when you do understand the fears disappear! Good luck for your exam tomorrow… though I think it’s clear you are going to pass with flying colours!!!!

Lots of good advice on this thread - undisturbed asbestos is nothing to worry about. If you’re planning on moving though you legally have to declare asbestos to the new owners.

He will not have drilled, he would have plucked like an eyebrow hair or scraped a tiny bit (less than 1cm2) and then sealed it. All in line with industry standards and regulations. Surveyors are very qualified professionals so nowt to worry about.

It’s called a board because it’s flat and thin like a cake board. You can get asbestos blocks that look like bricks and lagging that looks like loft insulation in tights that is used round old water pipes. It’s just a word. We have MANY that confuse ‘normal’ people, we use soldiers for example in formwork… in English they’re like big struts that hold big sheets in place when we pour concrete.
I wish I could tell you which projects to go search for to show you some of the massive schemes I’ve worked on across the country but it would be too outing! But do one thing for me, step away from google, if you want to actually learn, then I can happily sign post you to legit resources but for the time being, just leave the google machine alone!
and thank you, I get worked up over exams (we have a lot to stay up to date with legislation etc) so it’s my turn to stay calm and breathe. Hard when you have a 30kg springer sprawled across your tummy which is full of roast dinner and a couple of glasses of wine!

This

Are you sure it's asbestos and not asbestolux

It's only the soffit strip.When they strip the roof they will wet it and double bag it - the sheets are only about 5 inches wide.

Worrying is the problem, not the worries. Take a course of CBT so you can enjoy your little one and so you can let her grow up exploring her world not fearful of it. Go cold turkey on reassurance seeking and researching, it is maintaining your anxiety. After all, tis a shit world, there will always be another thing you could worry about. It won't protect her. Allocate yourself one one hour time slot per day that you must spend worrying about asbestos - that ought to be adequate, no? Then when you find yourself thinking about the asbestos at any other time, just notice it, and put that thought down until the allocated time, get on with your day. During the allocated time, you must do the worrying thoroughly.

I went through this worry OP when I lifted our kitchen floor and found some very ugly tiles underneath, I'd never seen anything like them. Showed my dad (surveyor) who said breezily, ah, they're asbestos tiles! We sealed over them instead of removing them but I did have a panic as a couple cracked when I unwittingly lifted the floor.

The single fibre thing is, as far as I can tell, a myth. Most people, particularly people who grew up when asbestos use in buildings was rife, will have some fibres in their lungs and will suffer no ill effects. As far as I'm aware, apart from a few rare cases, asbestos-related disease normally only develops in people with repeated exposure to large amounts of asbestos, usually through their jobs.

I found a helpful article explaining this on the Queensland Government website. It contained this very helpful paragraph, which I hope you will find reassuring:

"The idea that 'one fibre will kill' is not supported by scientific evidence as everyone has had some exposure to asbestos fibres. The burden of asbestos fibres in the lungs, resulting from typical background exposure, appears to be tolerated by most people. Post-mortem studies of people aged between 60 -79 years who had not died from asbestos-related diseases have shown up to one million asbestos fibres per gram of dry lung tissue.
Except in cases of high occupational exposure, the incidence of asbestos-related disease is usually low."

(Here's the link to the whole article: www.asbestos.qld.gov.au/general-information/are-there-health-effects#:~:text=The%20idea%20that%20'one%20fibre,be%20tolerated%20by%20most%20people.)

I’m a health and safety professional. The “one fibre” thing is nonsense. Have a look at an expert view: https://www.shponline.co.uk/occupational-health/one-fibre-really-kill-asbestos-real-perceived-risk-part-1/

Also: you cannot get ill from asbestos just from it being there. Your daughter isn’t being exposed to asbestos fibres unless she’s climbing on the roof and scraping bits off. Even if she managed that, she’d most likely be fine. When I was a kid, asbestos was everywhere. All older people have been exposed to airborne asbestos because it was around for many years before there was any requirement to remove or encapsulate it. The vast, vast majority of us suffered no health effects.

Please try not to go down these rabbit holes of panic by googling. Google will find you all sorts of scaremongering untruths and half truths. You could persuade yourself that pretty much everything will kill us - foods, “radiation”, vaccines, thousands of different chemicals, doctors, the next asteroid! You could easily fuel more and more anxiety.

I hope you’ve calmed down and feel better.

I don't think you should worry about it. I have been reliably told that asbestos is safe until it is disturbed.

Don't disturb it unless you really have to. Knowing it is there is not a concern unless there is damage which allows the dust particles to affect other areas and people. I have also just been reassured that wet asbestos is safe.
It is disturbing the dry asbestos where the problem lies.

Unless you really have to make repairs to the roof or any part near the asbestos, it is best left alone. My house was built in 1971 and at that time almost all houses built had asbestos linings, loft insulation, boiler cupboard linings, etc.

I am CURRENTLY going through a nightmare I never envisaged.

Toward the end of July a stain appeared on the kitchen ceiling. I am disabled and live downstairs in a disabled living extension, so I really didn't know what caused the escape of water. I called the house insurers who sent someone immediately who found a slight crack in the toilet upstairs. By the time it has spread over the kitchen ceiling - and the next room, it had soaked through the MDF in the kitchen cupboards and onto the floor.

A week later the loss adjusters came with workmen who took samples of the ceiling which, after the results came through last month, turned out to be positive for an asbestos sandwich. I was horrified. It has been a traumatic month of waiting. Last week workmen came to take away the toilet and floor in the bathroom. The following day - just this Friday - a technician arrived who explained more about it to me.

He also showed me a photo of the bathroom wall - tiled - showing it was swelling outward and that would have to be removed. There is a shower room next door. I think that wall will have to come down too. He explained that the wet asbestos renders the asbestos safe. It is disturbing the dry which creates a problem, so they cannot just remove the wet ceiling in the two downstairs rooms, because that would disturb the dry part. The whole ceiling will have to be removed in both rooms.

Being a wheelchair user makes it very difficult for me. My lifeline is my computer. The disabled living extension wraps around two sides of the house and I have to access the computer through the kitchen. I had a completely new phone line outside put in, so that creates a problem. I have to work out how I can stay in my very comfortable house while the ceilings are being taken down in two other rooms.

Don't be too eager to make repairs or renovations. I don't think surveyors or sellers of homes have to notify about asbestos, as it is safe unless disturbed.

Have you asked your house insurer for advice?

US just declared abestos legal again.

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