Asbestos in property

[iD]

Hi again

In the process of buying this house and my RICS level 2 survey mentioned possibility of asbestos in the property, it was mainly raised due to combed Artex finish in a couple of rooms and the age of the property (its a 1920s property).

I ignored the asbestos issue until now thinking its not a big deal and every older property has that issue.
Now that I'm very close to completion, I'm double guessing and wondering if that was the wise thing to do.
I'd love your suggestions on the matter as it'd be a great help. Would you get an asbestos survey done at all and factor in the cost of asbestos removal in your offer price or leave it as it is?

Thank you

Cloth_of_Gold

I know a couple of people who had asbestos surveys done and it didn't cost all that much. I believe that asbestos is only really a problem if you disturb it in some way. If it were me I would want to know where it is because it is easy to drill into some painted panel, for example, not realising it is asbestos. If you know where it is you can decide whether to have it safely removed or just leave it undisturbed. Others with more expert knowledge might see it differently though. 

Dustyevsky

Are a couple of Artexed ceilings sufficient cause to reduce the offer price? Personally, I doubt it, and certainly not without having them tested. The rest appears to be speculation based on the property's age, which you knew. Near completion is rather late in the day to introduce the notion of a reduction based on minimal risk and possibilities of expense at some time in the future.

Noneforit999

Many properties have Artex ceilings, many of which likely contain asbestos. Ours had every ceiling artexed when we moved in but I have no idea when it was done so we just got a plasterer in who skimmed over them.

I can't see a vendor willing to drop a price based on some artex which may or may not contain asbestos. Obviously it depends on the extent of where it might be but if its just a few ceilings, you can either get these overboarded and skimmed or most plasterers will just skim right over.

You could ask if they are ok for as asbestos survey but depending on how close you are to completion, you may find they say no. 

FreeBear

Noneforit999 said: You could ask if they are ok for as asbestos survey but depending on how close you are to completion, you may find they say no. 

An asbestos survey involves taking a sample of the suspect material and sending it off to a lab. So by default, an intrusive method that will leave some damage behind. And it will only return a result on the samples. There could well be other areas containing asbestos where no samples were taken.

To be honest, artex type coatings are very low risk and can be removed fairly easily (with X-Tex for example) or covered over. Even if left alone, the risk is extremely low.

theartfullodger

After you buy just have any combed Artex skimmed to get a flat surface.  Then redecorate whole room before putting on market.

......your memory goes funny....

Old enough to remember cars with asbestos brake shoes (ferodo..) .

Still alive, 75....

user1977

theartfullodger said:

After you buy just have any combed Artex skipped to get a flat surface.

Or skimmed even.

[iD]

Thanks folks

This certainly puts mind at somewhat ease. Honestly not sure if vendor would be happy for asbestos surveyors taking off chunks of ceilings to test, I guess this can only be done after the purchase.

I will park it on the side and try not to think of it until I have to drill into the ceiling for whatever reason. 

Thanks for your advise.