Asbestos in new house

[gmaisey83]

I am in the process of buying a 1977 house though the homebuyers survey has brought up the possibility of asbestos.
The report indicates that this could be present in the Marley floor files, soffits, flue for the fireplace (which has been blocked off) and also in the artex ceilings.
I don't plan on touching the soffits or ceiling apart from to install a smoke alarm downstairs and maybe get the spotlights taken out of the living room but should these things be cause for concern and worth getting a survey done to be sure or am I better off leaving alone as long as there are in good condition?

 

[Millwright]

Asbestos soffits, flue pipes etc wouldn't bother me. But asbestos in the artex, I'd probably walk away, but that's just me.

 

[xdave]

It's a homebuyers survey. The surveyors do not want any liability so are simply listing all the things that have had asbestos used in them given the age of the property. I had exactly the same in the report for my house, except for the flue as I don't have one. Yes the property had asbestos cement soffits when built (but long since replaced with uPVC), but the floor tiles under the carpets where 1990's B&Q plastic jobbies (which where never inspected by the surveyor in the first place) and the ceilings tested fine. Interestingly the survey missed the massive corrugated asbestos cement garage roof, the offcuts from which had been incorporated into a lovely crazy paving path leading up to the front door...

 

[footprints]

Marley tiles are not too bad and the soffits are outside but the ceilings might be a concern many situations where they might be disturbed. Electrical work running pipes water damage etc you could pay for a sample to be taken by a contractor maybe do the soffits and other bits too as a condition of the sale before proceeding.

 

[jeds]

Nothing of any concern there. Just standard, sensible precautions that you'd take with any material when carrying out maintenance or DIY.

 

[gmaisey83]

Thanks guys, I never really thought of asbestos when we started looking for a house but we had similar issues with another house we were going to buy. We decided against that one as were told it had a bad condition asbestos garage (brickwork and roof) amongst many other things.

 

[xdave]

Asbestos is not a predator - it doesn't sneak into your bedroom at night and kill you. It is more like a poisonous frog - if you know where it is, treat it with respect and don't lick it then you can live together happily.

There are some types of asbestos product that are more dangerous than others. I would not feel comfortable living with asbestos lagging or blown fibres in my house and they would most likely put me off a property purchase purely because I don't want the hassle of having to deal with them (removal/encapsulation). Asbestos cement though (typically in roofing/cladding panels), especially when outside, wouldn't concern me at all. When the time comes for them to be replaced they are easily handled safely with the simple precautions you should take when dealing with any building materials - gloves, dust mask and don't wear your Sunday best outfit. I replaced my garage roof on an overcast day and hosed down each sheet before removal in case it fractured. My local skip company took it unwrapped as long as it was separated from other waste in its own skip. They even took my cheap overalls as well. It cost me less to dispose of than a felt and boarded roof would have by volume of waste as I was able to fit it into a smaller 4cy skip.

You are right to be cautious of asbestos, but you shouldn't be afraid of it. I wasn't aware of any commonly used asbestos brick products, but if the garage you mention was cladded with asbestos cement products in poor condition and needed reroofing due to leaks/broken roof panels then I would have excluded it from the value of the property in the amount I would be prepared to offer. If the condition was ok then I wouldn't even have looked at it twice - millions of garages around the country are constructed with asbestos cement products and will be fine for many years to come if maintained properly.

 

[gmaisey83]

Thanks xdave.
Sorry I think my message regarding the garage was misleading. The roof needed replacing due to being in poor condition which was asbestos but the brickwork on the garage was also damaged and would require rebuilding.

Sounds like the general opinion is not to worry too much. Part of me is tempted to get it tested but part of me doesn't want to know just incase

 

[Newboy]

Try reading the HSE guidance on the two internal issues you have highlighted



http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/guidance/a26.pdf
http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/guidance/a27.pdf
http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/guidance/a28.pdf
http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/guidance/a29.pdf

http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/guidance/a23.pdf

 

[jeds]

Thanks xdave.
Sorry I think my message regarding the garage was misleading. The roof needed replacing due to being in poor condition which was asbestos but the brickwork on the garage was also damaged and would require rebuilding.

Sounds like the general opinion is not to worry too much. Part of me is tempted to get it tested but part of me doesn't want to know just incase

No need to test - A 1970s house WILL have asbestos containing materials. Absolutely no doubt whatsoever. So now that you know that - what are you going to do?

All the materials you describe are no more hazardous than many other construction materials. As somebody mentioned above, dangerous asbestos is the soft insulation lagging type materials known as amosite and crocidolite asbestos. These are nasty and will kill you - eventually. What you have is chrysotile asbestos which is not the same stuff. It may be called asbestos but it is quite different from the dangerous ones. In addition those materials contain tiny percentages of chrysotile asbestos - something like 3 to 7% - which is bonded into the hard cement matrix. So even if you break the stuff up it doesn't float around, it just falls to the ground. Now, I'm not saying you should sprinkle it on your cornflakes. You should treat it like you should treat any other building dust or fibre. Sensible precautions. But otherwise it is basically harmless.

 

[footprints]

Now, I'm not saying you should sprinkle it on your cornflakes. You should treat it like you should treat any other building dust or fibre. Sensible precautions. But otherwise it is basically harmless.

I have never sprinkled it on my cornflakes but must have had a fair bit on my bacon rolls, working on site and handling AC flue and also asbestos string (nasty stuff) where fibres used to float off as you pulled it into strands and cut it with a bit of old hacksaw blade (shudder), then off to the canteen for a bite to eat without any washing facilities

I would still advise you to get it tested though, it might save you worry and a lot of unnecessary precautions if you know for certain where it is.

 

[xdave]

My neighbour used to work in the Navy many decades ago and worked in pipe rooms where they would throw handfuls of the stuff at each other like snow.
Sadly he went on to develop asbestosis and is now slowly losing the battle with cancer that formed as a result. I don't think any diseases are particularly desirable but occupational ones are particularly cruel.

It is largely because of my neighbour that I am a bit overcautious when it comes to *any* dust producing activities and wear protective masks for most of them. Each generation is living longer now and things that previously wouldn't have mattered now end up being the things that kill us. I hope to die during a freak skydiving accident over an active volcano --fuelled on adrenaline, quick and without the distraction of hope-- not in a hospital bed unable to breath without a machine.

Testing is normally around £20 per sample, so if you are unsure about a material it won't break the bank to have it tested for peace of mind. Personally, I would save the money (unless there was loose-fibre insulation) and just treat everything as if it contained something nasty that you don't want inside your lungs. If you always take precautions you will be doing better than most people to avoid the risks - known and unknown.