Asbestos problem.

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marshall

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I was recently asked to do a small job for a friend while he and his wife were away for two weeks.
he wanted three ceilings skimmed, two over artex one which was heavily textured and had to be scraped while the other was a shallow popcorn effect, the other had just been plastered and painted.
the painted ceiling and the popcorn artex ceiling were fine. but on the other ceiling, a small piece of plaster came off when I removed a few pieces of wall paper that had recently been covered by the top of a wardrobe. it just happened to be right where the ceiling curved too. I covered it with scrim tape and it held fine until I started to skim over it. the fresh plaster pulled the scrim tape off and the plaster under it and quite a large strip of plaster across the room. the joint had been covered with hessian to help the plaster stick to the joint where the ceiling curves. when the plaster came off, I found out that the ceiling and the stud wall had actually been covered with sheets of asbestos instead of plasterboard, the plaster also peeled off the wall when I removed the wall paper too.
the asbestos hasn't been disturbed and it hasn't broken, but as soon as I saw it was asbestos I quickly left the room.
is there anything I can do to repair the section where the plaster has fallen away, or should I be suggesting that all the asbestos sheets in the wall and ceiling are removed properly?
I'm guessing that it isn't advisable to skim over asbestos sheets, or to screw through it to fit plaster board to it?
 
Have them removed by the asbestos people, they cannot be left or covered, it would come back on you and the householders health maybe. Welcome back
 
Thanks mate.
is there any danger with it being uncovered between now and the time it is removed?
the garage ceiling, directly under the room that has caused me problems is also lined with asbestos sheets. I have mentioned to him in the past that it is dangerous, but he insisted that it was safe as long as it wasn't disturbed. I don't really know enough about asbestos to say any different.
 
Get yourself on a course worked well last time :RpS_wink::RpS_lol:

used to be a day course bet it's about half an hour now :RpS_thumbsup:
 
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marshall said:
Thanks mate.
is there any danger with it being uncovered between now and the time it is removed?
the garage ceiling, directly under the room that has caused me problems is also lined with asbestos sheets. I have mentioned to him in the past that it is dangerous, but he insisted that it was safe as long as it wasn't disturbed. I don't really know enough about asbestos to say any different.
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Report it as above, its safe once its not disturbed, no breaking it or screwing into it.
 
johniosaif said:
Report it as above, its safe once its not disturbed, no breaking it or screwing into it.
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It's fine then, it hasn't been drilled in to or broken. the sheets in the bedroom ceiling have been covered with plaster until now, but the sheets covering the garage ceiling have never been covered, will they still be safe?
what about the ceiling in the bedroom? is there anything I can use to fill in where the old plaster has fallen off or does it have to be removed now that the old plaster has fallen off?
 
those sheets are called asbestos cement boards. about 90% cement 10% asbestos. i have taken them down in the past, and i have seen carpenters cutting them with circular saws. i guess the property is a prefab. there are companys that will remove them for you at huge costs.
 
marshall said:
It's fine then, it hasn't been drilled in to or broken. the sheets in the bedroom ceiling have been covered with plaster until now, but the sheets covering the garage ceiling have never been covered, will they still be safe?
what about the ceiling in the bedroom? is there anything I can use to fill in where the old plaster has fallen off or does it have to be removed now that the old plaster has fallen off?
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Always best to leave the sheets alone, get in the asbestos people.
 
The thing with asbestosis is the more you breathed in, the worse you got it!
Asbestosis is not a cancer, it's fine fibres bedding into the lung lining, causing hardening of the lung.

Mechanics used to blow the dust out of brake drums, plumbers mixed it up with water & lagged pipes with it. Asbestos sheets would be sawn day in, day out.
Asbestos was used year in, year out!

I did an insurance job a few months ago, and the insurance guy thought there may be asbestos in the artex of the ceiling that had to come down. So a sample was taken for analysys?

There was no trace of asbestos, so a specialist firm missed out on 700 smackers to pull down a 2.4 x 3m ceiling ....money for old rope my friends!
 
malc said:
those sheets are called asbestos cement boards. about 90% cement 10% asbestos. i have taken them down in the past, and i have seen carpenters cutting them with circular saws. i guess the property is a prefab. there are companys that will remove them for you at huge costs.
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No it isn't a prefab building, it's all double skin brick walls.
 
Honestly Marshall,if he is your friend I would have thought that he would take your advice and get it removed.or risk his and his partners health,oh and any children too.think about it....that's long enough.now walk away.
 
lilharbs said:
Honestly Marshall,if he is your friend I would have thought that he would take your advice and get it removed.or risk his and his partners health,oh and any children too.think about it....that's long enough.now walk away.
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He can't take my advice because he is in Spain right now. I don't know a lot about asbestos myself, so I was hoping to have an explanation for him before he comes home.
 
If there fixed with nails they have been broken..malc has given you a expination of the make up, its low risk, but risk is the problem.to be honest your dammed if touch em, dammed if you leave em.If it was me i`d leave emalone till they get back.
 
you can get test kits online for about £25....................:RpS_thumbup:
 
Take 4 samples and send them to cavendish laboratories, will cost you £21.60. They will send you a report telling you what, if any, asbestos is present and you can take it from there.
 
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