Sample testing for asbestos in Artex ceiling

[AranciataMele]

My house was built in 1969/70 and research has shown that asbestos was widely used in the construction of houses during this time period.

The ceilings are what as known as 'popcorn' which I'm considering having one or two sample tested for asbestos, the reason being that I'm thinking of inserting an additional smoke alarm, to the two already in place.

However, if the sample(s) tested came back positive, a) it would heighten my anxiety, and b) would I have to declare it to a prospective buyer.

By the way, my father lived in the house from new for 45 years and did not die from any asbestos related disease and he carried out a fair bit of DIY during that time, and I assume inserted the smoke alarms in the ceilings, and the electrician changed the bathroom light a few years ago and he didn't ask about possible asbestos.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Along with millions of other houses built around this time...

Why dont you just use a pv glue to fix to the ceiling unless you want a hard wired mains powered one.

I live in a 1920s property, with heavy use of cement board (4 to 6% asbestos) i'm the 4th Gen to live here, my GG parents built it and both lived into their 80s, as have all ancestors.

I was advised by an asbestos specialist firm that unless i start up a cement board grinding business inside a telephone box with no PPE, its no more dangerous than cutting sanding MDF.

Brown and Blue though or white in its natural form, totally different but these were never used in domestic properties.

It is safer to know.
You can always get it removed if you really wanted to.
It will come up as potentially asbestos in a survey anyway so if you have tested it, that is better for the buyer.

Any pre 2000 house will flag up ACMs, with the proviso "will be ok if not disturbed"
Asbestos was also used in wall plaster, where do we stop?

Removing all ceiling materials etc will be far more dangerous than leaving it all in situ as well as being extremely costly.

I was just presenting all the options as the op said that she was anxious about it.
Removal, as @jasflowers says is expensive and not really necessary.
Plus it may not be asbestos so all the worry might be for naught.

I had this issue recently. Bought a house last year with artex ceilings, one of which was damaged due to a historic water leak under the bath which caused the artex in the hall below to bubble, crack and flake.

It tested positive for asbestos and cost me £800 to have it removed and another £600 to have the ceiling re-boarded and skimmed. (South West area, Nov 2025.) This is for a tiny 6 square metre hallway. I expect the other ceilings are also asbestos, but thankfully not damaged, so I’m just painting over those and not worrying about it.

Like probably millions of other houses it's likely that the artex in your ceilings probably does contain asbestos - but yes a test will tell you for sure and isn't it best to know for sure? You are right that you will then need to disclose that to future buyers.

I have asbestos in my ceilings too. I managed to renovate the whole house without too much trouble. I just used the existing placement for light fittings. In one room that had had pine cladding put all over the ceiling with beams attached to the artex we decided to just cover all that rather than replace it all. I painted the whole ceiling with PVA glue and then new plasterboard was then attached to the wooden beams (ie not touching the artex) and I now have a false ceiling in that room. all the other rooms were fine as didn't need to be disturbed.

Attaching a smoke alarm to the ceiling shouldn't cause much disturbance either and I would just pain the area with PVA glue first - then attach the device as normal.

I should just add in your circumstances I’d not worry about it (unless there’s damage, which it doesn’t sound like) as asbestos removal is a very expensive route to go down. You can buy purpose made strong sticky pads for smoke alarms on Amazon for under a tenner.