Tradesmen and textured ceilings

MattDB

I moved into a house with textured ceilings in the summer. The surveyor told me not to worry about them and get them skimmed over which I did. My problem now is that several old light fittings are on the blink.

I've called an electrician who I've used before and asked him to replace 4 X light fittings (2 in skimmed textured ceilings) and told him about the underlying artex. He said he's not worried about it.

I've gone on to read a lot about artex and even if it does have asbestos in, it's very low risk. My worry is that any dust created might not be good (have very small baby).

My plan is to remove as much as I can from the rooms, cover anything left and do some hardcore cleaning afterwards. I'm just wondering if I need to be looking for someone more careful?

Nick_C

Well you could call in an asbestos expert to assess whether or not the artex really does contain asbestos. And if it does you treat it as asbestos. I guess it will cost you thousands.

I had all my artex ceilings skimmed a couple of years ago, and had new holes cut into them for downlighting. The electrician, plasterer, and building company boss were not at all bothered about it. They all work with artex ceilings on a regular basis. I assume they are professional and have assessed any potential risks, and have adopted safe working practices.

I think you are worrying unduly, but other people will tell you otherwise.

Davesnave

I've been drilling holes in artex type ceilings on and off for years, because until this turned into a money-making scenario, most of us were unaware of any 'threat' to health caused by textured coatings.

Mind you, when I think of my childhood, when Dad, fag in mouth would be sawing by hand all kinds of materials, including asbestos, today's dangers look like small beer! He lived to 95...

Then there was Mum, clattering through the ironing, banging her flat iron down on the asbestos sheet at the end of the ironing board at the end of every move. Those things used to disintegrate over time.....

I remember a neighbour too, removing an asbestos shed with a hankie tied over his mouth and nose. We thought he was bonkers. He didn't survive long enough to have asbestosis though; something else got him in his 50s.


I think your plan is good. If I was really fussy, I'd invest in a specialist vacuum cleaner like the pros use, and get the electrician to use it too, but to be honest, I'm not convinced it would be necessary.

EssexExile

I & my sisters were brought up in a home with asbestos lined walls. I used to help dad with the decorating as I got older. I'm now 67 & dad is 97 & still going strong. Asbestos is dangerous for people who work with it over a long period. Anyway you won't get much dust from a few holes the electrician makes but you may have to do some housework after he's been!

Risteard

When rewiring with Artex present I insist upon an Asbestos survey. My health is important to me.

stuart45

A lot of people have been exposed to asbestos fibres without knowing it, so there was nothing for them to worry about. Anyone using the London Underground in the past probably got their fair share.
Anyone who's worked in the Building trade for a number of years will probably have had more exposure than average.
I worked on a factory in Hemel Hempstead in the 70's which had asbestos walls. We had to knock down the walls from the bottom and build up in 13 inch brickwork as we went up. All the workers were still inside. The reason for doing the job was for insuance purposes and nothing to do with Health and Safety.
Totally different nowadays. One of my daughter's friends bought a house, moved in with brand new Dyson, washing machine and tumble dryer. Her husband drilled into the ceiling, realised it may be asbestos and called in a specialist.
5 grand later plus he had to dump the Dyson, washing maching and tumble dryer and she was asking me if I thought the brief exposure would affect her family's life. Probably the worry of it will.

EachPenny

EssexExile wrote: »

I & my sisters were brought up in a home with asbestos lined walls. I used to help dad with the decorating as I got older. I'm now 67 & dad is 97 & still going strong. Asbestos is dangerous for people who work with it over a long period. Anyway you won't get much dust from a few holes the electrician makes but you may have to do some housework after he's been!

The bit in bold is inaccurate and misleading.

Asbestos fibres are dangerous full stop.

Your risk of developing health issues as a result of exposure to asbestos fibres is variable, some peope will be fine, others will develop illness from relatively minor exposure. (and as Davesnave points out, a lot of people will die from something else long before the effects of asbestos exposure come to light).

You don't need to work with asbestos to be exposed to fibres and die as a consequence (e.g. read the inquest reports for the women who have died for no explicable reason other than as a result of washing their husband's overalls).

You can work with asbestos for many years with no adverse effect on your health - if you take the necessary, sensible and appropriate safety precautions.

If your dad has reached 97 having smoked 20 a day, would you encourage your grandchildren to take up smoking?

The risks to the OP (and family) are probably minor, but they are wise to be thinking about them and what precautions might be sensible.

stuart45

A friend of mine used to work in the asbestos removal trade, eventually as a surveyor, but has now left saying that even with the correct methods and equipment there was always the risk of inhaling some fibres.
There is a permissible limit for asbestos fibres in the workplace, but when you read the info it does stress that this is not 100% safe and any can be a problem.

MattDB

Thanks all for your thoughts.

I think that the problem is, opinions are very polarised and it's difficult to know what is reasonable and what isn't. Asbestos is definitely not all created equal and there is debate about whether crysotile (in artex) behaves like the other ones.

I HAVE pored over the HSE reports regarding textured ceilings including a risk assessment and to be honest they're extremely reassuring. They go onto a huge amount of detail about numbers of fibres within dust produced over a period of time.

HSE have also produced a guide to screwing info textured ceilings and last time I put up a light fitting I followed it to the letter - with prep and cleanup it took 2 1/2 hrs.

All this worry and I don't have any idea if it is even asbestos - ironically I could order a test kit and is have to remove plaster skimming and take a scraped sample - creating much more dust than if I was to screw in a light fitting.

When I was about 10 me and my friend had no end of fun drilling a corrugated asbestos sheet with his dad's electric drill. That definitely contained asbestos!

It's easy to think 'you can't put a cost on your health' and I could use up all my savings having it professionally removed (probably creating infinitely more dust than my light fittings).

This isn't a rant - more a summary that there are no easy answers!

MattDB

Risteard wrote: »

When rewiring with Artex present I insist upon an Asbestos survey. My health is important to me.

Would you still work on the house if it did?

Just out of interest, if you came to my house, you wouldn't see any textured ceilings as they're all covered up - would you still want a survey based on age?

PhilE

Simply get an asbestos air test done. Also, get a pro come round to give advice.

Artex is low content, I had a hole in my artex without knowing it, house still passed the air test.

If the artex gets damaged, polyfilla and a couple of coats of paint.

If your still concerned invest in a H rated hoover. Numatic do a good one. Costs £400, but will deal with both asbestos and lead dust.