Asbestos ceiling collapse

sbrock11

My living room ceiling collapsed through water leak and now have found asbestos in the ceiling.  The ceiling has been lying open for over 2 weeks and I have had to move out. My question is should furniture that was in the living room such as the sofa be condemned? The ceiling and water landed next to the sofa but insurance have been slow and not giving me any straight answers.

mwarby

I'm guessing we're talking artex here, the old stuff does indeed contain a small percentage of white asbestos. While theres no safe limit for asbestos exposure, asbestos is most harmful when inhaled and fibers lodge on the lung. The dampness will have reduced the amount of dust and airborne fibers, the other components of artex will also be coating the strands which will make it heavier (less likely to be airbourne)

In the grand scheme of things your exposure has likely been very low, and to what many would say is the least harmful asbestos type.You should IMHO be a bit careful in cleaning up any remaining dust(a regular vaccum won't filter asbestos fibers and will likely make them airbourne, if there is a lot of it on the sofa or carpets it is probably safest to dispose of them(although you need to consider the health and safety of person disposing of them)

Hasbeen

sbrock11 said:

My living room ceiling collapsed through water leak and now have found asbestos in the ceiling.  The ceiling has been lying open for over 2 weeks and I have had to move out. My question is should furniture that was in the living room such as the sofa be condemned? The ceiling and water landed next to the sofa but insurance have been slow and not giving me any straight answers.

Artex? If on ceiling is extremely dangerous and any contamination requires specialised  company's  to remove it. With mega costs ££.  Well that's the blurb the specialised removal companies will tell you.

Or because its in ceilings its very little risk unless you sand it down to a fine powder form get a straw and inhale it?

Some info here: Linky

So let your insurance company decide.