Asbestos!!!

billybear1

We were considering buying a house that needs complete rennovation.... Wiring, new kitchen, new bathroom. A sale has recently fallen through and I have heard through the grape vine that this is due to a large amount of asbestos being found in the construction (built in 1950!)! Would this skyrocket the cost of rennovation due to asbestos having to be removed? Is it even safe to go ahead with the rennovation?

Thanks!

DannyboyMidlands

Toatally depends on where the asbestos is and in what form. It's likely to add to the costs and need dealing with by a specialist.

Get a specialist survey done and subtract the additional costs from your offer.

Fuzzyness

do you know what type of asbestos it is? there are at least three different kinds i know. the most inert is the one that type that was commonly put in ceiling tiles and it is probably this that you have in your house. get an asbestos company round to have a look and confirm what type of asbestos you have and get them to quote for removing it.

you really need to worry if you have the loose fibre asbestos. this from memory is the most dangerous and would cost more to dispose of.

Gingernutty

Asbestos clearance is a licence to print money.

There is the investigative work to find out what asbestos there is, where it is around the house and what state it's in.

That alone is pricey.

Then there's clearing it out. That's a whoooooooole other level of expensive.

If you know or suspect asbestos to be in the house then you can't start any work for fear of disturbing it - the only safe asbestos is unbroken so no drilling, sanding, knocking walls down or anything until the man in the little white suits says "YES!"

Bizarrely, as well as concrete and plaster, asbestos has been incorporated into artex, some wood composites, insulation and guttering. Asbestos garages were quite common as well.

If all you can do is afford the bare basics then avoid. An asbestos containing house may sell cheap, but the cost of clearance more than make up for the 'bargain' price.

Ninnut85

There is a lot of false information and scarmongering when it comes to asbestos.

Take a look at a webite called Asbestos Wathdog. They have quite a lot of useful information and clear out some of the rubbish some companies spin in order to try and scare you out of a lot of cash.

http://www.asbestoswatchdog.co.uk/home

billybear1

If a full survey was done for a sale that fell through, does the estate agent have a duty of care to inform you that on the last survey asbestos was detected?

Niv

Gingernutty wrote: »

Asbestos clearance is a licence to print money. Maybe to an extent, but the regulation / equipment you have to use comes at a cost as does the air monitoring that is a legal requirement for certain works

There is the investigative work to find out what asbestos there is, where it is around the house and what state it's in.

That alone is pricey. For a standard 3 bed you are looking at around £200-£300 for a survey which normally includes up to 10 samples. This would vary on location.

Then there's clearing it out. That's a whoooooooole other level of expensive. As per my first response

If you know or suspect asbestos to be in the house then you can't start any work for fear of disturbing it - the only safe asbestos is unbroken so no drilling, sanding, knocking walls down or anything until the man in the little white suits says "YES!"

Bizarrely, as well as concrete and plaster, asbestos has been incorporated into artex, some wood composites, insulation and guttering. Asbestos garages were quite common as well. There is a massive raft of products that contained asbestos, some strike me as bizzare. Most odd example is the black bitumen patch on the bottom of old kitchen sinks.

If all you can do is afford the bare basics then avoid. An asbestos containing house may sell cheap, but the cost of clearance more than make up for the 'bargain' price.

Just added some of my thoughts regarding asbestos. Using Gingernutty's post is not intended to be a personal attack on him so sorry if you think it is!

If the house was built in the 1950's there are quite a few common products potentially present. The 'worst' likely to be present in my opinion is asbestos paper in a boiler room (if there is one) or airing cupboard if it used to contain a boiler. The majority of the rest is likely to be asbestos cement for flues and guttering. But you would need a survey to be undertaken to know for sure. Its not worth guessing.

Niv

System

billybear1 wrote: »

If a full survey was done for a sale that fell through, does the estate agent have a duty of care to inform you that on the last survey asbestos was detected?

Standard surveys do not check for asbestos. The standard line on a survey is that there is a possibility of asbestos. And they normally include that based on the age of the house rather than any empirical evidence of it.

A normal RICS surveyor is not qualified to determine whether there actually is asbestos as it requires lab tests to prove.

molerat

At a demolition site my BIL was working on, 3 men, a transit van and half a days work, £8k :eek:

billybear1

according to the EA the asbestos refers only to a water tank in the loft, which to replace will cost around £2k!!

Niv

billybear1 wrote: »

according to the EA the asbestos refers only to a water tank in the loft, which to replace will cost around £2k!!

If the EA says it is only the water tank i would advise you ask to see the asbestos survey that has been carried out at the property. If one has not been carried out (which I strongly suspect) there is no basis to the EA stating that it is only the water tank that contains asbestos, they are very unlikely to be qualified to make that assertion.

Niv