If you’ve bought a home with asbestos shingles, don’t panic. If they are in good condition and left alone they are not likely to cause any major issues. However, if they are damaged or disturbed there may be a health hazard as asbestos fibres may be released into the air, which, over time can cause such diseases as asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma.
So, if your asbestos shingles are in good condition, do nothing. If they are in poor condition and can’t easily be repaired you may have to consider their removal. It is recommended you seek the help of a professional asbestos removal specialist to minimise the risk of airborne asbestos fibres being released and breathed in by you and your family. However, if you wish to do the job yourself, here’s what you need to do.
1. Buy the necessary safety gear and get put it on. You’ll need an approved respirator, coveralls, gloves a hat and goggles. You can buy all this from a safety work wear store.
2. Lay thick plastic sheeting immediately beneath the area you will be working on and secure it with strong adhesive tape. This will ensure you catch any debris that falls to the ground as you’re working. Read the rest of this entry »
It can be hard work finding a suitable company to help remove asbestos from your home. Firstly, you have to do a tonne of research to track down the names of businesses in your area that you could potentially use, then you have to gather information about their education, qualifications and quality of work, and finally you have to gather quotes to find someone who will operate within your budget.
If you live in the Britain, there’s a great resource available that lists asbestos removal UK companies. Read the rest of this entry »
As the duty holder of any non-domestic premises and certain parts of domestic premises, it is your responsibility to carry out inspections and ensure no hazardous materials or substances are present. This information needs to be recorded on a register for the life of the premises and should be made available to any visiting contractor to prevent accidental exposure.
To ensure this work is done properly, it is recommended that you consider hiring asbestos consultants. These guys perform site audits to identify the location, extent, accessibility, type and condition of hazardous substances like asbestos. As part of the service, good asbestos consultants include the location and quantity of each substance, methods for monitoring the substance and methods of removal, handling, storage and disposal.
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Artex is the common trade name for a stipple finish surface. Right up until the early 1990’s it was common for artex (as well as many other building materials to contain asbestos).
Generally, artex has been free of asbestos for around 20 years now so if you’ve got a newish home then you’re in the clear. However, if you’re uncertain it’s best to get it checked out by specialist asbestos removal contractors.
Below you will find that the general consensus is that if you aren’t sure whether your house contains asbestos in the Artex then get it professionally tested or don’t disturb it al all. You are fine to paint or replaster over the top and this is usually adequate for most renovation jobs. The artex can’t harm you if it remains intact.
General Overview of Artex Containing Asbestos
- Era – Up until 1984 but non-asbestos paints were available from 1970s onwards.
- Where Found – Walls and Ceilings
- Type of Asbestos – Chrysotile
- Use – Decorative Paint
- Asbestos Content – Typically 3 to 5%
- Risk of Exposure – Low
Source: Asbestos Registers
How to Remove a Ceiling that Contains Artex Asbestos?
If possible, you should paint, cover or plaster over the decorative coating rather than remove it. There are products on the market for covering textured surfaces. Alternatively, if the coating is applied to a plasterboard surface, the whole board may be removed in pieces large enough for convenient handling and disposal. If you do wish to remove the surface finish only, reduce as much as possible the chance of you generating and inhaling any dust by soaking the surface with warm water and scraping off wet. Do not sand the decorative coating or scrape off dry. For best protection while doing any minor DIY work you should wear a disposable dust mask, ‘CE’ marked to EN 149 with FFP2 particulate filters. – Thurrock Council
There are options available to remove Artex and other decorative finishes that contain Asbestos by applying a coating which causes to Artex to be safely scraped away without causing any dust. Here is a video of one of the most popular products (X Tex).
How to Know if You Have Asbestos in Your Artex
An expert in asbestos and construction assessment has highlighted (Yahoo Answers) the importance of getting your home professional tested before starting any works that will disturb the Artex:
All ‘Artex’ has been free of asbestos for around 20-30 years now, so if it is new-ish then it will be clear. If you don’t know how old it is, then you can get it tested. So use your judgement, if your house was built in 1990, then it will be clear!
Take caution if you suspect it has been there a long time. Asbestos generally kills around 25-40 years after exposure, and it is the small dust particles that go deepest into the lung, that can cause a mesothelioma cancer, or lung function problems. There are different colours of asbestos, under a microscope the particles are either brown white or blue, all are fatal, all must be treated respectfully. Exposure will not harm you next week! But it is something you must bare in mind.
Ceilings are one of the most common places for Artex to contain asbestos in old houses.
Old decorative ceiling coatings like ‘Artex’ often had small amounts of asbestos added to the material to improve strength. Generally if ceilings are in good condition, they can be left alone and ‘managed in situ’ by annual inspection and maintaining a good paint covering. – Asbestos Surveying Limited
It is not recommended that you undertake the removal of asbestos from your home by yourself. Specially trained asbestos consultants should always be used whether it is required in your local jurisdiction or not. Having said that, if you still intend to remove ityourself, protecting yourself and those around you can be relatively easy if you follow these renovation practices for maximum Asbestos Safety:-
Identify Hazards
You should carefully and thoroughly check the worksite for any materials that could contain hazardous materials. It can be difficult identifying all hazards by eye alone so it is recommended that you use asbestos contractors to inspect and test your worksite. If you are in doubt about any material, assume it is a hazard and seek professional help. Read the rest of this entry »
If handled incorrectly, asbestos can be hazardous due to the nature of asbestos fibres and the ease at which they can be released into the air. It is important that you follow safe handling, storage and asbestos disposal procedures to minimise the risk of asbestos related diseases happening to you or people around you. This article focuses on the types of asbestos commonly found in residential homes.
When removing asbestos from your home, do no break it into smaller pieces to fit into bags or bins. This will release dangerous fibres into the air.
Once you have removed asbestos products from your home you should wet the waste and keep it damp to minimise the release of dust and fibres. In doing so, it’s important to remember not to use too much water so that runoff doesn’t enter drains. Once wet, you should cover the waste in heavy duty plastic and secure with strong adhesive tape. This will ensure no dust can escape. Read the rest of this entry »
Asbestos was a widely used substance in the building and construction industries for many years up until the 1990s given its strength, insulation abilities and fire-proof qualities. However, it has now been proven that asbestos is a potentially deadly substance. So it makes sense that when removing asbestos or testing for its presence the work should be carried out by specialist asbestos removal contractors to minimise the risks not only to yourself but to your neighbours and other people around you.
Asbestos removal contractors can help with the following services:-
- Inspecting your premises to identify areas where asbestos may be present
- Testing of suspect areas and materials
- Making recommendations for the safe removal of asbestos. This can include assistance in planning the abatement by making contacts with abatement contractors where necessary and designing the work process for asbestos removal.
- Providing quotes for the safe removal of any asbestos found in your premises
- Offering services to repair affected areas and organising to replace with non-hazardous materials.
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Because of the potential dangers surrounding asbestos exposure, a mass of legislation has been introduced over the years to ensure the protection of workers and members of the public. One of the toughest pieces of legislation is known as Regulation 4 and relates to the duty to manage asbestos (asbestos surveys).
This regulation applies to all non-domestic premises and certain parts of domestic premises, and places legal duty on the ‘duty holder’ to take active steps to identify, manage and monitor asbestos materials in their building.
For the record, if you refer to the Approved Code of Practice 127 you’ll find what the term ‘duty holder’ refers to. It includes employers and self-employed people if they have the responsibility of maintaining non-domestic premises. Basically if you are in control of the maintenance of a non-domestic premises the term applies to you. Read the rest of this entry »
For the last 50 years, asbestos has been used in the construction and insulation of buildings due to its fire-resistant properties and strength. However, it has been discovered that the small fibres making up an asbestos product can be breathed in or swallowed without much effort at all. These particles are very dangerous and if breathed in can stick to the walls of your lungs, which can lead to very serious diseases like asbestosis and cancer. That’s why it’s extremely important to take precautions when dealing with vinyl asbestos tiles removal.
Asbestos tiles need to be handled with extreme caution. You should only deal with it if it’s in a non-friable state, which means the tile cannot be reduced to dust by hand. If it can be then there’s the likely possibility you could breathe in the deadly fibres. In this case, you should seek a professional to do the job. Read the rest of this entry »
Thinking about removing your asbestos siding by yourself? It’s not recommended. For starters, it’s a very difficult job but, more importantly, if you disturb the asbestos surface there’s a good chance of releasing asbestos fibres into the air. These fibres are extremely dangerous and if breathed in or swallowed can result in diseases such as asbestosis, lung cancer, mesothelioma and other cancers. Not pretty. But if you are determined to give it a go, here what you should know for safe asbestos siding removal:-
To Remove the Siding
a. Remove pieces of the siding by pulling or cutting the nail heads while trying to minimise any breakage. If necessary, very carefully lift the siding pieces with a pry tool to expose large nail heads. At all times try not to disturb the asbestos surface. If you do disturb the surface immediately wet the area with a water sprayer (do not use a high-pressure jet). Read the rest of this entry »
