Old house advice re asbestos

riclad

I ,m think of getting a house re wired .i was looking at a program on diy re new kitchen install .They had to spend 1500 getting asbestos removed from the walls in the kitchen.The house is 150 years old .
.i got a full structural survey done 7 years ago
it did not mention asbestos .
Should i get it tested for the presence of asbestos .
how much does the test cost? before the rewiring is started .
Theres no lagging around any of the pipes .central heating was installed around 10 years ago.
The kitchen ground floor, and bathroom , were added as an extension
50 plus years ago .
the bathroom is directly over the kitchen.
extension is a wood frame build ,with grey curved slates on the roof.

Right2Write

I'd be curious to know how and in what types of domestic housing that asbestos was used, other than for obvious applications like roof sheeting, lagging of solid fuel stoves etc. And to what extent was it applied in what time period.

But as far as I know OP, the danger from asbestos lies primarily in the dust raised. It's only when you start cutting, drilling, gathering the material that problems arise. So if your rewiring involves extensive chasing of walls and the like, maybe there's a problem and more so for whoever is doing the work.

I took an water boiler off the side of a solid fuel cooker here once, to reveal a white friable padding material which I presume was asbestos. I closed back up the side panel and we used it for another several years. We're all still alive, 25 years later

riclad

From what i read they started using asbestos in building materials in 1930s in the uk.This house has no lagging anywhere , there no was boiler there or radiators .The main thing i,m concerned about is the plaster in the ceilings .theres no insulation at all .this house was built around 1800 .
the walls and ceilings have around 1 inch of plaster .
theres a metal water tank in the attic and an old style immersion hot water tank
in a press near the bathroom .http://www.mason-mason.co.uk/building-advice/a-guide-to-asbestos-in-the-home/

i don,t know when the extension was built ,its just all made of wood,
with windows in the kitchen , and the 1st floor bathroom .
Going from the basic design its sometime after 1900 .
It has 2 fireplaces upstairs
And 1 downstairs in the front room .

Steve

riclad wrote: »

i got a full structural survey done 7 years ago
it did not mention asbestos .

Call the surveyor and ask if if they looked for it as part of the survey they did.

If not, get another one done - will cost about €500.

riclad

I have no idea who the surveyor is
I did not hold onto the survey.
i presume the specialist companys that would do an asbestos test
for less than 500 euro.
There s companys who just work in the area of asbestos testing ,and removal.

Steve

You could be right, last time I hat a full survey done was over 10 years ago and that cost about €400.

Shop around, set some quotes is probably the best approach.

riclad

since the house was built in 1800 i dont think it has asbestos.
i might get the extension checked anyway.
i dont need another structural survey .

Steve

I wouldn't think so either - but I'm not qualified to say.

For the sake of your family's health, it'd be a small price to pay for peace of mind.

Steve

Just to qualify that, I'm in late 40's. Before I was born my dad built a garage in the side garden. The roof was corrugated asbestos. There were several panels left over in the corner of the back garden and we used to play under them and make 'forts' from them.

He died from cancer - may have been related , may not, maybe I will someday, maybe it's related .. who knows. It's your duty as a human to mitigate this risk.

riclad

On rte program room to improve , they were knocking down an old shed in the back garden , they had to get a specialist company to remove it as parts of it had asbestos .

Right2Write

riclad wrote: »

On rte program room to improve , they were knocking down an old shed in the back garden , they had to get a specialist company to remove it as parts of it had asbestos .

On a TV show like that, everything has to be done 'by the book'. Which doesn't mean that it's not a good idea but I think things like this should always be kept in perspective. If asbestos was in such widespread use as reported in your link above, then we would expect a corresponding significant problem with asbestosis and resulting lung cancers. I've heard/ seen the odd mention of it in Ireland over the last decade or so, but there's certainly no evidence that it's a widespread health issue here that I know of. A little googling also shows that the people most likely to be affected are those who worked in the asbestos mining and manufacture businesses as well as people who who would routinely work in demolition etc. So hardly a problem for an individual taking down a few roof sheets once in a lifetime?

riclad

I,ve no intention of removing anything,
I intend to do a total rewire and put in a new electric shower ,
and tile the bathroom wall and the floor .
All the ceiling plaster in the front room was removed 2 years ago.
Also removed a wooden panel 1/5 of an inch wide ,5 ft x 4ft from the bathroom ,
i intend to put in 5 new kitchen press,s storage units .