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Asbestos

Hi there,
Does anyone know if there is asbestos in bedroom walls of a flat built in the 1930's?
My daughter removed a dado rail and there was a few layers of wallpaper that she pulled and it needs removed. We started scraping it off and under the lining paper was blue paint and under that it looks like a slightly brown wall. My daughter is now worried incase she has scraped into asbestos. Thanks. 

Comments

  • Murmansk
    Murmansk Posts: 1,069 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Name Dropper
    I wouldn't have thought so really but is it a brick wall behind? If so, it's more likely to be plaster. If in doubt you can send a sample to a lab for testing
  • Phil4432
    Phil4432 Posts: 522 Forumite
    Fifth Anniversary 100 Posts Name Dropper
    Hard to tell from the description, as far as I know asbestos wasn't used in homes until the 40's.  But get an inspector to come round and give an opinion to be sure.

    Local asbestos company is all you need.

  • FreeBear
    FreeBear Posts: 17,216 Forumite
    Ninth Anniversary 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Magsmfc said: We started scraping it off and under the lining paper was blue paint and under that it looks like a slightly brown wall.
    A pinkish brown colour like this -

    If so, absolutely nothing to worry about. Someone in the past has skimmed the walls, painted over it, and then papered. Certainly no risk of asbestos.
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  • Bigphil1474
    Bigphil1474 Posts: 3,058 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    Highly unlikely to be asbestos unless you've got old (pre 1990's) artex on the walls.
  • Niv
    Niv Posts: 2,536 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Don't be fooled into thinking artex is the only likely asbestos item commonly used in housing. I have found asbestos paper, insulation boards, cement sheeting (not just corrugated), pipes, obviously tiles and glue, lagging amongst a whole raft of other things. However, based on the description in the OP their issue is not causing me concern. Is the brown wall solid or a partition? There is a vague possibility if a partition that it could be AIB, but it would not likely look brown but instead contain brown fibres. 

    At this stage I believe the most likely explanation is gypsum plaster as indicated by Freebear above.
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  • Section62
    Section62 Posts: 8,644 Forumite
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    Phil4432 said:

    ...as far as I know asbestos wasn't used in homes until the 40's.

    Much earlier than that.

    But the problem with earlier buildings is not knowing what refurbishment was done during the asbestos era.

    (Real) Tudor timber framed buildings could have AIB sheets installed to make the internal walls look nice and flat.  Exposed timber beams were once considered horribly old-fashioned and covered over with the new asbestos wonder materials.

    10mm of AIB was thought to give excellent insulation to solid Victorian walls and a cure to their damp problems.

    There's just no way of telling what you might find based on building age alone.
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