Asbestos Insulation Board (AIB) query

[vampyr]

Good evening all,

I'm hoping you can a) put my mind to rest and b), give me some advice on the best way of approaching a worry that I have.

I live in a 1970's brick built house. Just inside my front porch, there is an asbestos roof panel (insulation board) which had a small groove cut into it before I purchased the house (possibly years and years ago) to allow a couple of electrical cables to pass through.

The picture of this is here:

https://ibb.co/n317zvh

I've always left the board well alone and never touched it. However, earlier today, I was doing some cleaning and I caught the cable ever so slightly (about 2-3 inches below the board itself). Would this be enough to release fibres if the cable rubbed against it even slightly?

It then got me thinking that as the board is slightly damaged (but in otherwise good condition apart from the one corner pictured), would this be (and has this been) releasing fibres constantly (such as when I open the front door and the wind blows in), or am I worrying about something silly?

Finally, what is the best way of me dealing with this? I don't want to remove the board and it's never been an issue before - but I've read about painting it with sealant or using something to encapsulate it would be best but I just don't want to release a single fibre.

Thanks in advance.

 

[footprints]

I wouldn't worry asbestos is harder than PVC so cable will not damage it, only any crumbs left on top of the cable might have fallen but the fibres will still be trapped in those crumbs, just pick them up with damp rag or tissue and dispose of if you see any.
The only real release of fibres would have been when the idiot chased it out and they will be long gone!
I would fill with one of the soft deep fill fillers like this https://www.wilko.com/polycell-deep...VBD2F8-21a50Otq5DNRoColcQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Lots around many DIY stores stock own brand ones.
It is very light (even a new tub feels empty) if you are careful you can get a smooth finish without sanding and so risking damaging the board further.
In addition it is very easy to dig out again without hammering away on the ceiling.

 

[^woody^]

I would not worry about fibre release as the fibres are so small (microscopically small) and light, that they are well bonded into the material and do not just casually float off.

You can seal the surface with a paint, gloss paint normally, although a few good coats of emulsion will do the trick.

If you are minded to fill that hole, paint it first or coat it with a PVA solution. This is just in case you disturb it with the filler knife. If you are confident of being able to just press the filler home, then just do that. But use a wet blade and get it smooth, as you wont be able to sand it afterwards!

 

[vampyr]

Thanks to both of you for your replies - You’ve helped to put my mind at rest and I will certainly just very carefully get it painted and sealed with gloss. After that, I will use some filler as suggested and leave it be. It’s not in eyesight anyway so the filler doesn’t have to be perfect.

I forgot to mention in my original post - when I purchased this house in 2014, I paid a licensed, specialist asbestos removal company (around £2000!) to remove AIB which was behind the old gas fire. They setup an enclosure in the living room and also placed air testing units in the room and outside the room - including at the bottom of the stairs - which is located about 2 metres away from the ceiling panel in my porch. All air testing machines reported well below the standard (which I believe was something like <0.004 fibres). Had there have been any significant release of fibres from the ceiling panel, I guess the air testing unit at the bottom of the stairs would have picked up on this.

I’m quite paranoid about asbestos - even though I’ve had it professionally removed - the only other remaining location is my ceiling board - but as I’m never going to be disturbing that or modifying the area in any way, there was no reason for me to have it removed.

 

[KenGMac]

Below is a link to a well known organisation who have a vested interest in Asbestos and its aftermaths.

I take it this AiB panel is external? if so the degree of danger to the occupants is minimal. Encapsulation is the way to go as posted above

Check out the following?


https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/ab...estos-in-home-has-been-disturbed-not-realised

Ken.

 

[vampyr]

Hi Ken,

The AIB panel is inside my front door and in a small porch. There is only the single UPVC door to the outside of the front and so the panel is internal.

This panel was modified prior to me purchasing the house in 2014 and so the original disturbance would have been at least 7 years ago - but could be as much as 50 years ago as the house was built in 1970.

The only time I’ve even remotely been near it was yesterday when I ever so slightly caught the cable with a duster and it moved ever so slightly - probably about 1 cm.

Woody - does the fact that the board is internal change any of your original thoughts? I.e. make it more dangerous?

Thanks

 

[^woody^]

The AIB only becomes an issue if it is being broken up. It's the physical disturbance of the material by breaking, drilling, cutting, sanding etc that has the potential to release fibres.

But in context, it would still take a very large amount of dust to be made for a significant amount of fibres to be released, and even so you would need to breath in a large amount of those fibres over a prolonged period if time for them to become a health issue. And such circumstances would be hard to achieve in practice.

 

[footprints]

If you decide to seal with paint I would use a water based not oil, the advice for painting asbestos from scratch is primer diluted 10 to 20 % with water then 2 full strength coats. It soaks in much better than an oil base. I have used throw away brushes and decanted the paint into an old container to avoid contaminating the tin of paint with the brush. Emulsion is fine.

 

[vampyr]

Thanks to all for your replies and advice - I really appreciate it. I will very carefully paint the cut area of the board.

 

[^woody^]

And relax

 

[MattB83]

I would not worry about fibre release as the fibres are so small (microscopically small) and light, that they are well bonded into the material and do not just casually float off.

You can seal the surface with a paint, gloss paint normally, although a few good coats of emulsion will do the trick.

If you are minded to fill that hole, paint it first or coat it with a PVA solution. This is just in case you disturb it with the filler knife. If you are confident of being able to just press the filler home, then just do that. But use a wet blade and get it smooth, as you wont be able to sand it afterwards!

Woody - just because I had a similar question which I've just posted then saw this thread - do you know if AIB is always white asbestos - I thought that it could contain brown and/or blue plus was less stable which made it more dangerous than Asbestos Cement materials - am I mistaken?

 

[^woody^]

Woody - just because I had a similar question which I've just posted then saw this thread - do you know if AIB is always white asbestos - I thought that it could contain brown and/or blue plus was less stable which made it more dangerous than Asbestos Cement materials - am I mistaken?

AIB would tend to contain Amosite (brown) asbestos, which is why it is slightly more hazardous than cement sheet, which would be Chrysotile (white) asbestos.

The post you quoted is in context of the OP's situation.

 

[MattB83]

AIB would tend to contain Amosite (brown) asbestos, which is why it is slightly more hazardous than cement sheet, which would be Chrysotile (white) asbestos.

The post you quoted is in context of the OP's situation.

Thanks - find all the information available online quite difficult to digest and helpful to balance with pragmatic advice from people here!