Asbestos board under stairs?

Stampy · Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2011 4:06 pm

I live in an early 70s property, and when going into the understairs cupboard this morning (quite large) noticed that the area directly under the stairs is boarded, with the boarded nailed in. It's been painted over a lovely bright yellow.

I saw a little damage around one of the nails, and the board seemed quite thin, but it looked bright white (not grey) with shiny bits in. Does that sound like asbestos board?

merlin50 · Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2011 4:36 pm

sparkydude · Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2011 7:57 pm

sounds like the modern equivalent of asbestos boards to me, firelux, which contains no asbestos. I suggest that if your worried about it you get a sample tested to put your mind at rest . If you want to stop it from spreading fibres for now, just paint over the damage with neat PVA glue

Nick

merlin50 · Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2011 10:10 am

at that age it could be asbestos, just paint it so its sealed.

EllieP · Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2011 5:57 pm

Stampy wrote:

I saw a little damage around one of the nails, and the board seemed quite thin, but it looked bright white (not grey) with shiny bits in. Does that sound like asbestos board?

If it's white with shiny bits, then it's probably Supalux or Masterboard. Both of these are supposed to be asbestos-free products, but it does depend on when it was manufactured... The very early Supalux-type products have been found to contain traces of asbestos. It is rare as rocking horse poo, but it does happen. A testing lab with UKAS accreditation for asbestos bulk sample analysis in accordance with HSE publication HSG248 will be able to confirm.