blue/grey powder in loft, what is it?

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Dylan123

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Hi folks,

have a slight concern in my loft. It looks like a lot of fibreglass insulation but there is a blue/grey powder around the joists. See the lower foreground in the pic.

I unwittingly put my head up there and ran my hands through it for some reason.

I have a builder friend who just said “unlikely to have asbestos in your house” but what on earth is all that blue/grey dust? Any opinion on what else it could be?

the house was built in 1939

I have a little baby on the way and want a safe home for her. Help appreciated.
 
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View attachment 175906 Hi folks,

have a slight concern in my loft. It looks like a lot of fibreglass insulation but there is a blue/grey powder around the joists. See the lower foreground in the pic.

I unwittingly put my head up there and ran my hands through it for some reason.

I have a builder friend who just said “unlikely to have asbestos in your house” but what on earth is all that blue/grey dust? Any opinion on what else it could be?

the house was built in 1939

I have a little baby on the way and want a safe home for her. Help appreciated.

I have a test kit ordered and respirator but worried even to take a sample. If it is asbestos this is the nasty stuff and it’s powder format.
 
Love the signed beam ! Grey dust could well be from a slate roof, maybe replaced since '39.
 
Glass fibre insulation for sure.... then a load of random dust. Asbestos hay day was in 60s and 70s. But it was also used long before that in smaller amounts.

To be honest, just having dust there is not really indicative of asbestos. Think what they used it for..... types of boarding, insulation/lagging....

In all reality you can’t be 100% sure unless you get it tested. Just for your info I wouldn’t be if I found that.
 
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Agree with Nige F my first thought dust from old roofing, slate is bluey grey in colour. Is it a new roof?
As you have ordered the kit might as well put your mind at rest.
 
I thought perhaps it was sprayed on to that joist for fire protection but to be fair, you don’t need to insulate joists! I can see a grey lagged pipe in the distance which I now am worrying about too! I don’t really know my arse from my elbow re asbestos, some pics I see of asbestos pipe lagging just looks like normal lagging.
My builder mate I get the feeling thinks I am worrying about nothing. It’s only industrial and some old Artex. Not likely in a pre war house.
I remember falling through an asbestos garage roof as a kid. It seemed like a very fragile and brittle material. A bit like clay. Then I see spongey stuff on pipes and fluffy stuff in some insulation. Oh, and also tiles. Gloves, brake pads . Quite hard to know what’s what. It doesn’t seem to follow a definitive form!
 
footprints said:
Agree with Nige F my first thought dust from old roofing, slate is bluey grey in colour. Is it a new roof?
As you have ordered the kit might as well put your mind at rest.
Click to expand...

All the houses on my road are clay tile. May have all been changed. My roof isn’t the original I think.

my neighbour thinks my chimney was repainted a few years ago.

don’t think these were ever slate, I lived here as a kid in 80s and never remember slate tile
 
In a pre war house unlikely. Asbestos is a brilliant material. So many excellent qualities. But, 1 big draw back!
 
Your builder friend is wrong, as any house built before 1999 could have asbestos material in it. However you never ever get asbestos dust lying around.
 
I can't see the powder you mean. It sounds like fungus found on loft timbers that have been wet. post a closeup photo and include a coin or something to show scale.
 
Any house built before the end of the war would be thick with soot especially in a big urban area, we have had to vacuum all surfaces of the loft timber including undersides, horrible stuff blows all over the place if you disturb it at all. If it is and you want rid of geit thet a decent builders vac which has suitable filters and remove the insulation and vacuum everything.
 
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