Asbestos removal.

McKneff

Our house was built in the mid seventies with warm air centreal heating.
The door to the warm air boiler is made of asbestos.


We are having a new warm air heating system installed but the engineer says that the grilles on this door
are too small re the reglaations and so the door has to be removed because it the grilles cannot be made bigger because of the asbestos
Is it possible to tell if it is safe or dangerous asbestos. The door is about 4 feet by 3 feet and he is quoting £400 plus vat to remove and dispose of.


Can anyone help please.


Many thanks


Annie

MisterBaxter

The only way to be 100% certain on the type of asbestos would be to have samples taken for testing. If you were thinking of cutting in to the asbestos to enlarge the vents then I don't think that you can really say that there is such a thing as safe asbestos although there are companies out there that will cut into it but the costs involved are high. I was quoted £250 for drilling a drilling a core hole in a ceiling for a light fitting so it may not be cost effective if that is what you were thinking.

If the material hasn't been tested then he is most likely quoting you for removal and disposal as a worse case scenario so that he is operating on the safe side. You could have it tested but then if it comes back as asbestos he will still want his £400 plus the cost of testing.

[EDIT]
Probably stating the obvious but the fitter has probably removed enough of these systems to know exactly what type of asbestos is involved.

McKneff

He said we coulnt cut into it because it would be dangerous so the door would have to be removed and yes, as you say he is quoting for the worst case scenario.


The asbestos is actually sandwiched between to this plywood pieces and our idea is just for him to take the door off he hinges and just stick it in the back of the garage till such a time that we HAVE to dispose of it, ie if we ever sell up and move.


Thanks for your input.

spaceboy

Remove the door by the hinges very carefully, bag it up, call an asbestos removal company or the council and ask them how much it would cost to have it collected.

I'm assuming the door hinges are screwed into a wooden door frame. I would think that will be the case but you should never undo screws which are going through asbestos board. You get a high fibre release doing that.

spaceboy

Can you post a picture of the door please.

McKneff

The company putting the boiler in will remove the door which as above will be removed by unscrewing the hinges from the wooden frame.


We will have a bag big enough for it and will put it in the back of the garage till we can get someone to collect it.


Thanks for all your input guys.

MX5huggy

Look at your council waste service, Coventry city council have a bin for Asbestos at there dump. Double wrap it stick it in a car and good bye.

spaceboy

MX5huggy wrote: »

Look at your council waste service, Coventry city council have a bin for Asbestos at there dump. Double wrap it stick it in a car and good bye.

Actually you're supposed to have a special waste license to transport asbestos.

McKneff

There is something that says if you transport it by car it should be at least double wrapped and put either on a trailer or a roof rack.

YouKwoteMe

Hi,
There 2 types of asbestos, to be honest I really thought the doors were all gone by now.
On my sites we normally engage with licensed asbestos companies for the removal of asbestos and they are not cheap at all.
A fact is that asbestos is fine is left alone!
Another fact is that, even if the person has quoted you £400 to drill the hole, I would not allow him touch if he is not trained and competent and as per the asbestos HSE rules him needs to be licensed and undertake rigorous periodical medical examinations (X ray to lungs...) from what you are saying he has neither of these. Even if he says he has, you are the ultimate responsible to make sure he does have the documents and licences.

From this you will be only left with 2 solutions:
1-Drill door using asbestos company.
2-Remove door using asbestos company.

My question would be:
1-Can you remove the door leaving the hinges to the door side?
2-Do you have a place at home where you can keep the door with a label saying danger asbestos?

If yes to these 2, you simply have to buy a new door and leave the door there with the label. You will sendup living with that all the time (don't recommend this).

If no to the 2nd, I would suggest you contact the licensed company, and ask them to price to take that away to a licensed tip, using a licence to transport and they will notify the HSE if needed. This is my preferred, peace of mind...

In regards to testing the asbestos to identify the type, only that will cost you around £300 and you need someone with a licence to sample it to take to the lab. I would personally class it as the most hazardous so you will need to notify the HSE...

Hope this helps

Good luck!

shaun_from_Africa

spaceboy wrote: »

Actually you're supposed to have a special waste license to transport asbestos.

There are no regulations in place preventing a private householder from transporting asbestos from their property to a suitable disposal facility.
The licence requirements are only for people who are handling asbestos in the course of their business.