Buying a home with asbestos in it...

CambridgeBuyer

So, story goes I'm a (somewhat aged) first-time buyer in Cambridge, a popular city with a very hot property market at the moment. After having looked for a place of my own since May, I am in the final stage of negotiations for a ground maisonette south-east of the city, with a stunning garden included. I've had a building survey done, which didn't mention much I didn't already know: The kitchen and bathroom are quite dated and could do with a re-fitting, and my winning sealed bid was around %5 higher than the surveyor's valuation. (not totally unexpected as this year has seen few unsold properties in Cambridge)

But knowing the property is an older one, built in the era when asbestos was common, I decided to get an asbestos survey as well, to give me peace of mind if nothing else.

The 5 samples are back from the lab, and 4 of them were confirmed to contain chrysotile. More specifically:

Sample from ceilings contained < 0.1% (labelled as just a "trace")
Floor tiles contained ~8% (where accessible as most were covered by a carpet)
Soffits on the roof of the building contained ~14%

I'm currently asking for quotes for what it would cost me to have it all removed (would be an expensive exercise I'm sure). Part of me feels I wouldn't want any potentially hazardous stuff around, especially when googling the scary articles on health effects. But on the other hand, the chrysotile stuff is supposedly in the majority of UK homes, and is said to not be much of a health hazard unless disturbed. So I'm really not sure which facts or which gut feeling to trust here...

So I'm wondering if there is anyone here who could share their experience of dealing/not dealing with asbestos in their home? Any opinions are welcome, whichever way they're biased, as I'm really in two minds about this.

Davesnave

I think if you read the literature it soon becomes obvious that there is much less danger from these sources than there is from going about your everyday life.

A vast number of us have asbestos in artexed ceilings, which is fine so long as we don't disturb it in some crazy way, as the amount is trivial and the surface is sealed by paint.

Even your floor tiles could be removed legally by a worker with very minimal training, but again, unless someone takes a power sander to them, or they are visibly breaking up, they represent no risk as the chrysotile is locked in to their structure.

Outdoor asbestos soffits in good condition again represent no significant risk, but how are you responsible for these anyway with a ground floor maisonette?

Many of us spend 8+ hours a day working in buildings where asbestos is present and managed rather than removed.

Eradicating low level asbestos-containing material from homes might make people feel better from a psychological perspective, but benefit them physically only through the removal of one stress factor. Sadly, it's a fact of life that we have many stress factors to deal with and physical hazards are legion. When did you last see someone walking by a busy road in the UK wearing a respirator?

Doozergirl

As above.

I'm managing a huge restoration. The house has asbestos soffits. Having looked at them, they're about the only thing staying. They are perfect for the purpose and still in superb condition. We'd be creating a headache changing them for something that probably wouldn't last as long.

There really is no need to disturb any of those items and risk is neglible, so I wouldn't.

kirtsypoos

Having been an asbestos surveyor and now working in the asbestos removals industry I would advise that, unless you were planning to do work on the floor, ceilings and soffits, you just leave them in situ.

The costs far outweigh the risks for these materials, so unless you are a bit of a stresshead and it would play on your mind, I would leave well alone.

On another note, that's a very strange way for the sample results to be shown - in the case of the artex and floor tiles, these are none notifiable materials, however there doesn't seem to be a mention of what material the soffits are. With regard to the Health and Safety Executive, it does not matter what asbestos type (ie chrysotile) is within the material, it is the material itself which determines whether or not it is notifiable to the HSE (and therefore impacts costs)

vw100

Asbestos is common in quite a lot of houses in the UK.


Older Artex in ceiling finishes did contain asbestos but very low amounts. The general advise is to skim over it with plaster and forget about it.


Floor tiles - leave them and tile over or get them removed if you want to - again most of the asbestos will be embedded in the material.


Soffits - external and safe if in good condition. Can paint them with emulsion paint.


Remember asbestos is safe if its in good condition and not drilled/cut/dust blown about. I read somewhere that tiny amounts of asbestos is in the air we breathe from it being so excessively used in the years gone by.

patman99

I used to work in a care home as a handyman and underwent asbestos training.
Asbestos was only banned in 2001, so plenty of buildings with artexed cielings will have it.

Just make sure that if you need to drill into the ceiling you wear a proper dust mask and you will be safe.

CambridgeBuyer

Thanks for your input people, I guess most of you are agreeing it's safe as long as it is not exposed or disturbed. Still would be nice to get rid of it though...

Davesnave:
"Outdoor asbestos soffits in good condition again represent no significant risk, but how are you responsible for these anyway with a ground floor maisonette?"

- The ownership is a joint freehold with the upper maisonette, and the responsibility for the roof is equally shared.

Kirtsypoos:
"On another note, that's a very strange way for the sample results to be shown - in the case of the artex and floor tiles, these are none notifiable materials, however there doesn't seem to be a mention of what material the soffits are. With regard to the Health and Safety Executive, it does not matter what asbestos type (ie chrysotile) is within the material, it is the material itself which determines whether or not it is notifiable to the HSE (and therefore impacts costs)"

- That's interesting to know... do tell me more! The report of the samples that I got back (titled: "Certificate for identification of asbestos fibres") is a very sparse one, only showing a table of "sample location" and "fibre type detected", with the later one being "chrysotile". As for the actual percentage concentration, I had to ask the surveyor on the phone. I was quite surprised about the difference in concentration between the ceilings and floor tiles/soffits, but really don't know anything about how this affects the hazardness.

Perhaps it's worth asking the asbestos surveyor more about the materials, then?

kirtsypoos

Percentages are very loose - I doubt the lab have analysed the percentage, they will have based those percentages on industry standards. To be honest, there is little point in the asbestos concentration being shown as it doesn't make a difference whether it is 1% or 100%, it is still deemed an asbestos containing material (ACM) and so must be disposed of at a licensed transfer station.

What would be helpful to know if the soffits are asbestos cement (none notifiable, a general rule would be between £15-25 per linear metre and not including access which would need to be scaffolding) or insulating board (notifable, and therefore required to be removed using a minimum of a partial enclosure, with traditional scaffolding and haki staircase, (cost not included), approx £1200-1500 per day on site)

The costs are very loose as it will depend on the area etc but thought I'd give you some idea

CambridgeBuyer

Thanks kirtsypoos. I've had the some quotes back now...

Seems like I'm looking at £500 for the suffits, £2500 for all the ceilings, and £1500 for the floors, assuming the same tiled floor is used throughout the building. VAT to be added on top, so comes out at about £5400. That's of course without the cost of reinstating the ceilings and floor tiles...

Does that seem like a fair quote? I will probably get at least another one from someone else.

dirty_magic

I wouldn't even bother removing it. I'd skim over the ceilings if you don't like them and just leave the floor tiles under the carpet or laminate. It's not going to hurt you unless you disturb it.

Doozergirl

Obviously, those people have to make a living, but if you're on MSE asking if a price to do something that doesn't need doing is fair, what answer do you genuinely expect? You also have the additional and pointless cost of replacigg the soffits (and perhaps fascia/guttering if it isn't straightforward to remove) and plastering every ceiling and essentially ruining the house.

And then your house is 'clean' but none of your friends and family's houses are, or the office where you work, or the shops you go into...

You're allowing yourself to be scaremongered. It is not dangerous when left. Arguably, you're creating the hazard yourself by disturbing something.

Go and buy a new house where you don't have to spend money on something that adds nothing