Asbestos in ceiling

[Beansbaked]

Hi, we live in a ex council house built late 1940-1950s. It has a coal shed/ toilet built on the side. The roof is flat, there’s no corrugated sheeting. The roofs been leaking and a huge part of the ceiling fell away It left behind what looked like a mortar mix and a metal grid. There was some visible white “hairs” about an inch long, almost like cat hair. The leak and the ceilings been fixed but since googling I’m wondering if it was likely to have contained asbestos in the mortar mix? I’m really worried as we did this ourselves as a diy project. I know it was a stupid idea.

 

[Wayners]

Get some tested.
I can't say either way.
It's the only way you will ever find out.

 

[23vc]

Given the era and fact that the hairs look long, sounds more like old horse hair plaster. Which figures if it’s been applied to laths (the metal stuff). So fingers crossed. But yeah, get it tested so you know. And asbestos danger is really related to prolonged repeated exposure like handling it for a living, rather than the odd DIY mishap…

 

[Beansbaked]

Thank you, a builder came out last week and re boarded and plastered it. I’m worrying myself sick over it though I know there’s nothing that can be done

 

[accelerator]

Post some pics if you want opinions on whether it might be asbestos. However, it sounds like horse hair to me.

 

[Beansbaked]

Hi this is the only photo I have which isn’t great as most of the grey stuff I’m worried about fell off

 

[Beansbaked]

I’ve done some more research today and I’m convinced it’s asbestos. The white fibres weren’t clumped together like photos on google show for horse hair. I’m absolutely devastated

 

[Beansbaked]

Any other thoughts from anyone?

 

[accelerator]

It's impossible to tell from these pictures alone.

If it's been boarded over and the boards plastered, it is effectively sealed off. This means it can't be abraded, so no airbourne fibres can be generated, and they couldn't travel past the plaster anyway. So, I don't see any reason why it wouldn't be safe now.

Asbestos is dangerous when it can degrade into fine fibres in high volume, e.g. it is being cut, in a confined space, so that you are taking lots of fibres into the lungs. This cannot be the case for your ceiling.

 

[Beansbaked]

Once the first part came away we pulled down a lot of this without knowing it could be asbestos. It was probably a 4x6 plasterboard size in small bits

 

[accelerator]

Once the first part came away we pulled down a lot of this without knowing it could be asbestos. It was probably a 4x6 plasterboard size in small bits

Did this generate a high concentration of fibres in the air? (Rather than plasterboard dust). It seems unlikely to me.

 

[Beansbaked]

I have no idea if it generated lots of fibres, here wasn’t much dust from it. Every small piece (a few cms in size) that broke away wouldn’t that potentially release millions of fibres? This is all new to me and I’m just going by what I’m reading on the internet, which indicates we’ve messed up massively if it is asbestos

 

[accelerator]

I have no idea if it generated lots of fibres, here wasn’t much dust from it. Every small piece (a few cms in size) that broke away wouldn’t that potentially release millions of fibres? This is all new to me and I’m just going by what I’m reading on the internet, which indicates we’ve messed up massively if it is asbestos

If there wasn't much dust, then no. Breaking it would not generate many fibres. Also, asbestos is less dangerous when it is bound into other products, e.g. a tile.

If you had a dangerous form of asbestos, in its raw form, and were taking an angle grinder to it in an enclosed space, that would be dangerous.

I don't think you have much to worry about.

 

[Beansbaked]

Thank you for replying

 

[Deluks]

If the roof's been leaking then it will be damp, this reduces the chance of any fibres flying about.
Not worth worrying about after the fact. Thinking that some limited exposure to asbestos is definitely going to cause cancer is like saying I once briefly smoked, so I'll definitely get lung cancer. Which we know is not true.