Lathe, horsehair or asbestos?

PoGee

I'm not an expert but hope someone can take a look at this picture.
Adult son has just left home so I decided to start redecorating his room. I rarely ventured into his room when he was still living here. There's a hole in the wall - put there during a teenage tantrum.....which I had a proper look at now.
Is this asbestos? I thought I had asbestos in the roof a couple of years back when getting quotes for a new roof but a testing sample came back as negative. 

Section62

PoGee said:

I'm not an expert but hope someone can take a look at this picture.
Adult son has just left home so I decided to start redecorating his room. I rarely ventured into his room when he was still living here. I found a hole in the wall - put there during a teenage tantrum.....
Is this asbestos? I thought I had asbestos in the roof a couple of years back when getting quotes for a new roof but a testing sample came back as negative. 

Picture is too blurry to be sure, but it looks like the remains of scrim tape to me.

QrizB

There's no lath visible there.

I'm no expert but the fibres look far too long and straight to be asbestos. Could be textile or fibreglass?

PoGee

Thanks for reply Section 62. Is this a better picture? 

FreeBear

Section62 said:

PoGee said:

I'm not an expert but hope someone can take a look at this picture.
Adult son has just left home so I decided to start redecorating his room. I rarely ventured into his room when he was still living here. I found a hole in the wall - put there during a teenage tantrum.....
Is this asbestos? I thought I had asbestos in the roof a couple of years back when getting quotes for a new roof but a testing sample came back as negative. 

Picture is too blurry to be sure, but it looks like the remains of scrim tape to me.

There appears to be some paper backing there too. Probably plasterboard.

If it were horse hair, I would expect to see wooden laths (not lathes - they would be found in a meta/woodwork shop). Asbestos fibres are too small to see with the naked eye.

PoGee

Many thanks for replies everyone. Thought he'd been breathing in asbestos fibres.

WIAWSNB

If your son had punched a lathe, he'd know about it. Drrrr-cheeesh.

PoGee, how old is your house? 

PoGee

WIAWSNB said:

If your son had punched a lathe, he'd know about it. Drrrr-cheeesh.

PoGee, how old is your house? 

It was built in 1964. This is why I thought if might be asbestos.

GDB2222

How big is the hole?

WIAWSNB

Almost certainly there is no asbestos in that board. It is almost certainly normal plasterboard, 60's era.
Stick you hand in, and have a feel of the back surface. What is it? 'Paper'?
The fibres are a mystery, and look like 'scrim' as mentioned before, but it's all the way around that sizeable hole, which doesn't fit.
See the loose bits hanging around the opening, grab one and pull it away. Are you left with a lump of 'chalk', and a layer of paper left behind?
Are you going to fix this yourself, or get someone in? For the former, we can guide you. Once done, it'll be sealed just like before. Until then, if you wish to wear a dust mask whilst preparing the hole, then by all means do so. 

Niv

Doesnt look like asbestos to me. Crysotile tends to be in clumps of fibres where the photo looks like quite rigid individual fibres.

Niv (asbestos surveyor, analyst and air clearance)