Rewiring a house with asbestos?

Connoisseurus_Rex

In the process of buying a house that may require rewiring and also contains asbestos in the ceilings and floors. It must be very common for houses to have both asbestos and very old wiring, so wondering what people in this situation have done?

stuart45

One solution is to have the asbestos professionally removed, although it's not a cheap one.

grumpy_codger

I don't think that rewiring requires disturbing the floor. For the ceiling the first floor boards will have to be removed anyway, so the plaster doesn't need to be touched. Just in case, any dust under the boards I'd spray with diluted PVA.

Beeblebr0x

Not cheap, but a good investment in one's long term health. Your local council may have a register of approved companies who could do the work.

Risteard

grumpy_codger said:

I don't think that rewiring requires disturbing the floor. For the ceiling the first floor boards will have to be removed anyway, so the plaster doesn't need to be touched. Just in case, any dust under the boards I'd spray with diluted PVA.

It can disturb the floor, depending what needs done (e.g. power to kitchen islands). The ceiling absolutely will be disturbed.

Section62

Connoisseurus_Rex said:

In the process of buying a house that may require rewiring and also contains asbestos in the ceilings and floors. It must be very common for houses to have both asbestos and very old wiring, so wondering what people in this situation have done?

Depends to a degree what kind of asbestos you are talking about - e.g. there's a significant difference between having a ceiling constructed using AIB, and a ceiling with an asbestos-containing artex-type coating.

Generally it is safer to get asbestos removed by an appropriate asbestos-removal contractor if there is a chance of it being disturbed by work you are doing.