Potential asbestos found in attic

ahfat41

Son just had a building survey and the surveyor identified potential asbestos in attic. He recommends getting an asbestos surveyor before proceeding. He said it should not be too costly may be £1000. Not sure what to do, do we ask the seller to deal with that issue before buying? The attic is partly converted to use as a storage room. Also was advised to ask the seller to have the fuse board tested. Thanks.

jonnydeppiwish!

You can get self sampling packs from Amazon - 3 tests for £27 or similar.

What’s the potential asbestos? We have the same in the potential insulation but not too bothered about it as going to cover with 300mm rock wool or equivalent 

jonnydeppiwish!

As for the electrics and gas, if you want it testing, you’ll need to pay for it

Bigphil1474

OP, surveyors often say 'potential asbestos' as they will have seen a material that has sometimes had asbestos in before, but they don't know if this material in this house does actually contain asbestos. Artex is a good example. Older artex is likely to have asbestos in whereas newer stuff probably hasn't. We had our artex tested when we were having the ceiling removed a few years ago and the top 2 layers were asbestos free but the very bottom layer did have asbestos in.

The testing shouldn't cost that much unless it's a massive house. If you just want the stuff in the attic testing, can't see it being much more than £100 to get someone in, or do the self test as above. You shouldn't need a full survey done unless it's an older house which hasn't been refurbed in years - generally asbestos was being phased out from the 1980's onwards, but we tend to use the year 2000 as a cut off (before 2,000 may be asbestos, after 2,000 probably not).

In terms of the electrics - we have had ours tested for our buyer as it's not expensive and it helped smooth things along, but your seller might not be that fussed. We also had the gas safe check done as well - for us it was less than £100 for both (using family friends though). You can either ask them to do it or pay for it yourself. You won't get your money back if the sale falls through though.

badmemory

Just wondering if anyone has seen a surveyors report on a house over 30 years old that doesn't mention asbestos.

Grizebeck

Don't get over pram on asbestos 
Our house had it. Garage roof and some sheets in house
We took it down and bagged it and then disposed it at the local tip all for FREE. Very easy and safe to

jonnydeppiwish!

badmemory said:

Just wondering if anyone has seen a surveyors report on a house over 30 years old that doesn't mention asbestos.

Not sure you’ll see one that doesn’t on  a 10 year old house 😂 

LHW99

Grizebeck said:

Don't get over pram on asbestos 
Our house had it. Garage roof and some sheets in house
We took it down and bagged it and then disposed it at the local tip all for FREE. Very easy and safe to

But do wear a mask and rubber gloves while doing it.

On the other hand, unless you need to remove it (eg take down old plaster ceilings to replace, it's not usually a problem if its undisturbed in an attic.

FreeBear

Loose fill vermiculite insulation is one candidate for asbestos. The problematic vermiculite came from the Libby mine in the USA (sold under the brand Zonolite). However, vermiculite used in the UK is imported from a number of locations around the globe. Unfortunately, there is no easy way to tell whether you have the contaminated stuff or not without proper testing.

mexican_dave

I wouldn't want to crawl around and attic to overlay insulation over an asbestos containing loose filling asbestos. It's the dust that's a killer and loose filling is dusty. There is no safe limit for asbestos dust! Working in a confined space makes it a more hazardous task. Think carefully.

Grizebeck

LHW99 said:

Grizebeck said:

Don't get over pram on asbestos 
Our house had it. Garage roof and some sheets in house
We took it down and bagged it and then disposed it at the local tip all for FREE. Very easy and safe to

But do wear a mask and rubber gloves while doing it.

On the other hand, unless you need to remove it (eg take down old plaster ceilings to replace, it's not usually a problem if its undisturbed in an attic.

Aye we masked up gloved and eye protection