Removed broken gas fire - what material is this ?

spacey2012

Looks like compound blue asbestos insulating board from the 70's .

Dan-Dan

what would you do with the problem , if you were me ?

spacey2012

Well first thing assumption, I have said it looks like compound blue asbestos insulating board (which is that shade of grey) it has been placed on a joint between a fire and a wall where asbestos was and would be used, it has neither burnt or chard in any way, which is asbestos quality and it was clearly cut by hand as the edge chipping shows.

If it barks like a dog .....

Get someone in to dispose of it correctly, do not use a normal vacuum in the area, let the disposal company vacuum the room with the heppa vacuum.
It may not be, but it certainly fits the bill and testing is expensive, it may be cheaper just to get it removed and disposed off in one go.
That is what I would do.
Certainly do not go ripping it from the wall.

Dan-Dan

spacey2012 wrote: »

Well first thing assumption, I have said it looks like compound blue asbestos insulating board (which is that shade of grey) it has been placed on a joint between a fire and a wall where asbestos was and would be used, it has neither burnt or chard in any way, which is asbestos quality and it was clearly cut by hand as the edge chipping shows.

If it barks like a dog .....

Get someone in to dispose of it correctly, do not use a normal vacuum in the area, let the disposal company vacuum the room with the heppa vacuum.
It may not be, but it certainly fits the bill and testing is expensive, it may be cheaper just to get it removed and disposed off in one go.
That is what I would do.
Certainly do not go ripping it from the wall.

OK , i appreciate that

Is it usual then for all the normal walls in a 1976 house to have asbestos within the actual walls ? what about all the shelves etc people put up over the years ?

Dan-Dan

sorry , might have read the `wall` bit wrong , were you saying , for the purpose of the fire , and its location ON a wall an asbestos product would be used , rather than , the wall is made of asbestos ?

spacey2012

Just to prevent transfer of heat to the surround area, it was in widespread use up until the early 80's it was very cheap and seen as the wonder product to use where anything hot needed to be insulated.
If has not be broken up, it should be ok until it can be removed, nobody can say 100% without testing it but given the date of build, the colour, the location and purpose for its location, to insulate fire, I would not take the chance of removing it as there may be some loose wadding behind it as well.

Dan-Dan

spacey2012 wrote: »

Just to prevent transfer of heat to the surround area, it was in widespread use up until the early 80's it was very cheap and seen as the wonder product to use where anything hot needed to be insulated.
If has not be broken up, it should be ok until it can be removed, nobody can say 100% without testing it but given the date of build, the colour, the location and purpose for its location, to insulate fire, I would not take the chance of removing it as there may be some loose wadding behind it as well.

Thank you

I have looked at the HSE pdf showing a firm should be UKAS registered to test asbestos , and http://www.mcenvironmental.co.uk/About-Us.html this company are the ones i was going to approach , does there accreditations look suitable ?

And i should check they will `hoover` the dust up etc with a heppa etc ?

Sorry to badger you , i appreciate your help