never knew that !!

[tigler]

Just had a bit of a shock. There was a water leak above the ceiling in the downstairs loo at my mums house yesterday. Obviously it caused water damage to the plasterboard. After a phone call to the insurance company we were given the go ahead to get a plumber in. To find the source of the leak he cut a section of plasterboard out. There was a pin hole in the cold feed to the bath tap, the bathroom is above the downstairs loo.
He does his job, all good, until this morning. My mum has a phone call advising her there is an asbestos risk in the Artex covering the ceiling !!!! She panicked and asked them to call me and sure enough in Artex applied before 1990 there is a possibility that a percentage of white asbestos was used in the formulation ! The house was built in 1985 and all the ceilings throughout are artexed !!
So the loo has to be sealed off until the insurance company has a test done to determine if the artex does include asbestos. If so, there will have to be a fullscale contained removal of the whole ceiling panel so that it can be replaced !!
Bloody plumber just hacked it out with a padsaw and I had my head through the hole to look at the leak !!
Have just checked online about this problem and I have confirmed it is a real risk.
Just to think, I was going to remove all the artex with that purpose made product !
Are we safe anywhere these days ?!

 

[madkayaker]

It's a real problem many wall, floor and wall coverings had it in and was used upto 2000. They recon 15-20 trademan a week die as a result and that's expected to rise over time

 

[tigler]

Good grief ! Not exactly widely publicised is it !

 

[rosco454]

I work as an engineer for a demolition firm & we regulary strip artex out under controlled conditions.

 

[tigler]

So what sort of procedure are we likely to be facing if the test is positive for asbestos ?

 

[Welderpaul]

That was one of the questions on a recent asbestos course we did. I must admit i was suprised how late it was used up until.
We come across it fairly regularly on refurbishment jobs.

Nasty stuff when you read up about it.

 

[Wozzaaah]

A few months ago there was a van parked opposite our house and blokes dressed in protective clothing were coming out with sinister looking red bags so I googled the name on the van and found they were a company who dealt with hazardous waste, especially radioactive stuff!
Had no idea what was going on but I now reckon that's what they were clearing.
Phew!

 

[madkayaker]

HSE ran lots of publicity within the constrution trade three years back they sent loads of stuff to the collage i worked out to hand out to apprentices and there firms

 

[cumbriasteve]

In the 70's, once a year we had to remove the aluminium coverings for maintenance work on the turbines at Calder Hall Sellafield, these sheets were screwed to a frame which the laggers had a habit of covering so much we had to break the material up to get at the bolts.

There was a constant cloud of dust, we were covered in it every day for the 3 days the job took, we found out in later years it had a high asbestos content, no respirators were used.

One of the guys later died of asbestosis aged 69, personally so far so good and at least I am officially registered as having done the work and been exposed in my occupation...hopefully my better half won't be making a claim in the future....but not a lot you can do and there must be many tradesmen in a similar position, some who won't even be aware they have been exposed.

 

[Drains]

Nasty stuff when you read up about it.

Looks rubbish too.

 

[brightspark]

by rights any holes i drill in artex im suposed to carry some wallpaper paste around and dab the ceiling where im working to stop any dust. its common practice for insurance companys to stop all work till it has been removed /u can remove it yourself wetting it and using paste to remove safely , its all best removed by yourself cheaply as if u sell the house it will seriously reduce the price and stop people getting mortgages on them now your not allowed to take up the old brown lino tiles on site in houses without being licenced

 

[Robotstar5]

HSE ran lots of publicity within the constrution trade three years back they sent loads of stuff to the collage i worked out to hand out to apprentices and there firms

We had something similar at work, buildings put up before 1999 (ours was 1994) have to be checked. The H&S guy got a company in to test and they tagged a couple of "minors" on the gasket material used on the mains gas pipes, they even tested the sound deadening used under sink bowls!.

 

[brightspark]

We had something similar at work, buildings put up before 1999 (ours was 1994) have to be checked. The H&S guy got a company in to test and they tagged a couple of "minors" on the gasket material used on the mains gas pipes, they even tested the sound deadening used under sink bowls!.

they even whinge about the asbestos pads in fuse carriers

 

[Pete.]

Good grief ! Not exactly widely publicised is it !

Well, artex does stand for Asbestos Reinforced TEXtured coating.

 

[madkayaker]

they even whinge about the asbestos pads in fuse carriers

Had all the arc shots on works hv and Lv replaced the other month

 

[snowcat]

chrysotile asbestos posses little risk if undisturbed and in a sound state, The removal of it sounds like a née jerk reaction by the insurance company, and the now over zealous removal company's that have sprouted up making money from the stuff, Removal is likely to release more fibers (If its found to have any traces of chroysotile) than simply covering by either boarding and/or skimming plaster over the artex, My house 50s built has aspetoes softs and left in there current state they pose little risk. I also have about 10,000sq2" of aspetoes roofs around the place, that I have little interest in disturbing, again as they are they off negligible risk.

This isn't to say that it shouldn't be delt with cautiously, as I know too well having been to the funeral of a colleague that it has a very real danger, However as I said theres also an industry that has a vested intrested in heightening the danger beyond on levels of reason.

 

[madkayaker]

Problem at work was while in good repair it would be fine to leave where it was is real **** switching off part of local 11 Kv rural feed type stuff ( part of the local grid goes through our gear) that by the time you have surveyed it you could have removed it. Plus a few sites are mod and they have a remove it what ever the cosy policy

 

[CRB]

Well, artex does stand for Asbestos Reinforced TEXtured coating.

?WHAT? Good grief, I scuffed loads off in our first flat in 1990. Suppose I will die sooner now too. Dearly Beloved is none too keen either.

In my previous incarnation I produced the bodies for 'Negative Pressure Units' and Wet Strips' for a company which went through the continent, and UK, removing asbestos from schools etc. They came up second on a GSearch for NPU Asbetos, and of course are not that far away.