Asbestos??

gabryostuni · 30 Aug 2015

Hello everyone,
I am new to this forum, but I think I will be here often from now on.
The story, my neighbor has a leak and it got so bad that finally I noticed it.
I stripped down the wallpaper and underneath I found crumbling cement or what, I started to take it away and the a doubt struck me, could this be asbestos? Any idea?

I am panicking now, here two photos I took

footprints · 30 Aug 2015

I would be very surprised to find asbestos plastered on in a domestic situation (only used in commercial situations around pipes tanks etc and usually white / light grey in appearance) unless it is artex which is white and will be a fairly thin coat which it does not look like. From the photo to me it looks like a weak cement render.
If it worries you still it can be tested even looking directly there is no certain way to identify asbestos, even less from a photo, but I don't think you need to panic.

gabryostuni · 30 Aug 2015

Thanks! I will get that tested anyway but now I am feeling better

As the wall is all wet, do you think it's a good idea to take it all down or should I wait for it to dry and put cement/mortar on the holes?

roy c · 30 Aug 2015

It shouldn't be asbestos on the wall like that ,it could be old lime plaster it looks like there was something going thru the wall and it has been taken out and bricked up (badly). What is other side of wall? What is that pipe in the wall Is it steel or lead, or copper?

gabryostuni · 31 Aug 2015

I live in a terraced house in Burnley (1896 built), the wall it's the wall that separates my property from the neighbor property. The pipe it's probably gas and looks like lead.
As you can see from this photo it's all wet and it's coming down.
I wonder if taking all the plaster down would be a good idea, I have also noticed that the brownish thing between the bricks is coming off easily. Should the wall be repointed?

roy c · 31 Aug 2015

What's above that area is there a bathroom around that area? That pipe may be a water pipe and may be leaking, check it out...Forget about repointing till you have found out the source of the damp.

joe-90 · 31 Aug 2015

There's no asbestos there. Lead pipe is redundant gas lighting. I hope your neighbour is compensating you for the damage?

footprints · 31 Aug 2015

Wait for it to dry before you do any repair, to be sure the source has been identified.
That pipe could be gas or water my guess is water, the angle is all wrong for a "compo" gas pipe installation, but classic plumbers routing!

However who knows what pipework has been done in over 100 years of the houses life and a couple of world wars bomb damage!

Worth checking out your existing gas supply route though, it is not unheard of for old lighting supplies to still be connected, best wishes footprints.

roy c · 31 Aug 2015

I thought it was a water pipe as it seemed to thick to feed a wall light in that area, But you still cant be too sure,,,

gabryostuni · 31 Aug 2015

I really don't know, now I got in touch with the housing company that rents that house out to my crazy neighbor, let's see what happens.
How long before it dries out after the source has been stopped? weeks? months?

roy c · 31 Aug 2015

Shouldn't be too long but when you have the wall rerendered there will be a lot of moisture from the rendering so I wouldn't be too bothered with it drying out..

gabryostuni · 31 Aug 2015

Do you think that taking all the plaster down and repointing the bricks would be a good idea?

joe-90 · 31 Aug 2015

Not really. That pipe is an old gas pipe. I see them all the time in old terraces. Just repair and redecorate, but make sure that next door fixed the leak properly or you'll have to do it again.

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Asbestos??

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