Asbestos in garden - help please?

Diggs.

We recently bought a house. A big section of the garden was patio and we wanted to lay it to lawn. We took up the patio and found there was an inch or so of concrete underneath. Having smashed up and removed the concrete we noticed a bit of tarpaulin poking out the ground. We started digging the soil (with a view to burying some of the rubble and refilling before putting topsoil for laying the lawn) and found a load of corrugated roofing under the tarp. It's a light blue colour on the inside (you can see where parts are broken) and our friend who works in the building trade thinks it's probably asbestos.

We've downed tools but what do we do now? Who do we contact? I'm not sure whether we need to cover it up or leave it exposed but not further disturbed? How do we get rid of it?

We think there is a huge amount-the garage was taken down by the previous owners and converted into an extension and it looks like this may be the garage roof...

Thanks a lot in advance for any help

martinsurrey

if its concrete sheets, spray down with water, double bag and take to your nearest council tip (check that they accept concrete asbestos).

read up on the interweb on the how to do it, but asbestos in this form is not something to get worked up about, IF you do it right.

Diggs.

It's not concrete sheets (I don't think). It's corrugated strips which have been broken up and buried under the concrete.

christineperseus

when you said tarpaulin ........... I thought BODY!!!!

ian103

its probably asbestos cement sheets, do some research - you can take it to some council waste sites but in limited amounts, you may have to get a skip if you have a large quantity. If you do it yourself - read up but keep it damp, wear a disposable overall suit, dusk mask (to the correct standard) etc, double bag / wrap and dispose. Or pay someone a small fortune to do it for you.

Theres plenty of scaremongers around but if you use the necessary ppe etc its a job you can do yourself but do the research and decide for yourself.

Katykat

There are certain tips that do not accept asbestos and you then have to contact the council to pick it up. Good luck with that as you may encounter some obstacles. In my area, the council will only take it away if there are absolutely no builders involved. They told us that it was the builders responsibility to dispose of it and of course, the builder would pass on the charges to the customer. If its something that you have found yourself, you should be ok,

C_Mababejive

If you search the HSE website,you will find guidance on Asbestos.

Be VERY careful and do not believe the commonly held advice of just wetting it and bagging it.

Did you know that the annual road death toll in the UK is around 1,800 bodies but that the estimated death rate due to Asbestos exposure is closer to 4,500 bodies per year and rising?

Here is some sobering reading...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nellie_Kershaw

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spodden_Valley_asbestos_controversy

ian103

Its important to research the product you are dealing with! There is no doubt that asbestos can seriously damage your health BUT there is various types of asbestos and its vital you deal with it appropriately. Personnally after giving proper consideration to the facts, wearing the appropriate ppe I have and would deal with asbestos sheets but there are other types of asbestos products that I would leave to the specialists.

Appropiate reading:-

http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/guidance/a14.pdf

onlyroz

Where do you live? If it's in the South-East then I can recommend a good company who should be able to remove it for you.

ihatebananas

I have an asbestos soil pipe (approx. 5metres - in three bits) and two sheets (still attached to wall) approx. 5m2 that I am wanting to get rid of so keen to know what people think!!!

I am too chicken to do it myself

Tip only excepts two 2m lengths.

When I rang for a quote around about 10mnths ago it would cost me about £100-150 to dispose of.

When I bought the house I paid about £300 to have my asbestos roofed garage disposed of. It was a bargain it took them all day to wrestle with the triffid-like ivy that had decided to smother the shed!!!

ian103

must have been a few years ago as when I look to get an asbestos skip for a garage roof it was several hundred pounds just for a skip and that was mates rates.