Artex covered walls and ceilings

twink1108

I am currently looking for a flat to buy to rent out. I have recently dropped out of a sale which was a fair way through due to historic landfill very nearby.

I viewed a flat today which I really loved and the location was great - it is an ex-local, good price, good yield. However, all of the walls and ceilings were artex.

The current owner said that some of it was textured paint, but it has been there since before she bought it (almost 30 years ago), so I am not sure that it actually is.

Is this a risk worth taking? Is it worth buying a property which would need a considerable amount of work to make it suitable for a tenant to live in? I don't actually know what the procedure is for making it suitable for someone to be able to put be able to safely put up light fittings, hang pictures etc. I am assuming that at the age of the textured paint/artex, that it is likely to contain asbestos.

The other concern that I had was an old back boiler which has been there since the property was built in the 1930's. Again, this is not something that I have any experience of - is this something that is likely to have asbestos behind it if removed?

I would be very grateful for anyone with any knowledge on this!

Thanks

Kynthia

You seem to be a very nervous buyer, pulling out of a purchase due to a landfill and now feeling that artex might be too risky. Only you can know what you are comfortable with, perhaps you should buy a newer property if artex and old boilers are scary. Also only you can know whether the property is going to have a high enough yield in order to be worth investing some money in works.

mlz1413

Really! ?!
You are thinking of becoming a landlord and are on a money saving forum worrying about artex?!?

Ok on a constructive level.....
Get a builder round to advise how much to plaster the walls and ceiling - let the builder tell you about asbestos don't tell the builder, he Is the expert not you. Get 3 quotes and make notes of who you like, trust as well as who is best price.

If you are buying a flat ensure you can afford with a max of 10 months rent per year - I don't care where you live - flats are 2 a penny, and lots of choice means high turnover and low rents. There is always a market, but it is spread over more properties.

Savvy up on landlord rules & regs and how to spot a professional tenant - it's your responsibility (money) not your letting agents.

~Beanie~

As far as I know, artex does not contain asbestos. You can either leave it as it is, remove it all and replaster or plaster over it. Nothing major to be worrying about IMO.

Davesnave

~Beanie~ wrote: »

As far as I know, artex does not contain asbestos. You can either leave it as it is, remove it all and replaster or plaster over it. Nothing major to be worrying about IMO.

Some Artex contains a quantity of asbestos, but not all of it does. It is perfectly harmless if painted and not sanded down or drilled into, and even then, something like putting up a picture hook would be a minimal risk.

Believe it or not, many of us have endured the Artex years and survived, even without knowing about potential asbestos. This is probably because we failed to sand the stuff down. Anyone who has ever tried will tell you, it's damn near impossible!

vivatifosi

~Beanie~ wrote: »

As far as I know, artex does not contain asbestos. You can either leave it as it is, remove it all and replaster or plaster over it. Nothing major to be worrying about IMO.

Current Artex does not contain asbestos. Old asbestos did, but it depends how old. It was removed about 25-30 years ago but I'm not sure exactly when.

Old asbestos can be removed with a gel product rather than sanding. I wouldn't bother with the ceilings as they are ubiquitous.

Slinky

As far as asbestos with the boiler is concerned, we took out our 1970s boiler and there was asbestos in the flue. This wasn't a major issue as we covered the area well, husband wore a disposable paper boiler suit and face mask, and he carefully sawed it through and the area has been boxed in (new boiler in different place). The pipe he cut off and the boiler suit and mask we bagged up and took to a local council tip which deal with asbestos waste (your council will tell you which sites can deal with it, not all can). A neighbour who works in building control told us we could deal with this small amount ourselves rather than calling somebody in.

roddydogs

mlz1413 wrote: »

Really! ?!
You are thinking of becoming a landlord and are on a money saving forum worrying about artex?!?

Ok on a constructive level.....
Get a builder round to advise how much to plaster the walls and ceiling - let the builder tell you about asbestos don't tell the builder, he Is the expert not you. Get 3 quotes and make notes of who you like, trust as well as who is best price.

If you are buying a flat ensure you can afford with a max of 10 months rent per year - I don't care where you live - flats are 2 a penny, and lots of choice means high turnover and low rents. There is always a market, but it is spread over more properties.

Savvy up on landlord rules & regs and how to spot a professional tenant - it's your responsibility (money) not your letting agents.

Im sure anyone looking for a flat to rent in the South will be delighted that rents are "Low"