Hello,

I just got the survey results on a property I am trying to buy and to my great surprise (I am new to all this) one of the many (many many) things they found to comment on was the presence of asbestos!

I am awaiting a callback tomorrow from a company but does anyone know how much it costs generally to remove? Is it a big problem? Is it a serious health risk?

The asbestos is in the shelf lining of two cupboards - boiler and water tank I think.

Add that to new bathroom, new kitchen, new windows, electrics need re-wiring, general decor to rework and the boiler may be reaching the end of its life! Oh and the bathroom needs improved ventilation ... and the windows may not be safe.....

My first home - what am I letting myself in for!!! Has anyone else had similar problems?

Cheers for any advice!!!

Asbestos removal can be a VERY costly removal process. It really does depend on where the asbestos is and what type it is. These can vary so much i wouldn't like to give an rough estimate as I am no expert on it.

If you PM me the details I can find out for you in 2/3 days. My dad is a senior asbestos surveyor and so should know.

Wilf

3 issues here as I see it:

1) Surveyors are prone to never taking any responsibility thus will say a house is about to fall down to cover themselves even if it isnt.

2) When you looked around didnt you spot the boiler wasnt brand new and the bog and kitchen were a bit tired????? Surely you pitched your offer accordingly didnt you???

3) If it has asbestos then fair game. I wouldnt necessarily expect Joe/Josephine Public or an honest vendor to spot this.

So I personally wouldnt expect anything for the tired decor, scuddy kitchen and duff bathroom, after all these were all obvious to you when you looked around, but I would insist the vendor got the asbestos sorted at their own expense before I exchanged contracts.

GOOD LUCK

D

I agree ukdavvy - I may have just been venting. I knew most of the potential problems/things to get sorted going in. I knew about the bathroom, kitchen, windows, general decor and suspected the ventilation to bathroom was inadequate. So I shouldnt complain but I think I am shocked by the asbestos.
I know very little about boilers so didnt know that it would need replacing as it looked (in my expert opinion obviously) ok. The electrics I had thought may be a risk and budgeted for but it is all these things together.

I am going to go to the vendor and talk about the electrics (mortgage company are holding back £1000 because of it) and the asbestos (mortgage company dont seem to be bothered about!).

Cheers for advice

Hiya,
I'm in a similar position - just had a survey on a house done, and it came back saying that "asbestos MIGHT be present in ceilings". I guess that means the surveyor didn't find anything but is covering his ass. Not exactly comforting though! :(

Not being a big DIYer, and not having owned a home before, I wouldn't know asbestos if it hit me round the head with a hammer. I have no idea what to do next...

Any advice greatly appreciated!
K x

The trouble is that asbestos was a very common building material, and apart from council houses you will most likely find asbestos in plenty of homes. Many of us will not be aware we are living with it.


As an example:-

How many homes have artex in them? Asbestos was an ingredient for artex until very recently.

Originally posted by d1zzyw1zzy
Hiya,
I'm in a similar position - just had a survey on a house done, and it came back saying that "asbestos MIGHT be present in ceilings". I guess that means the surveyor didn't find anything but is covering his ass. Not exactly comforting though! :(

Not being a big DIYer, and not having owned a home before, I wouldn't know asbestos if it hit me round the head with a hammer. I have no idea what to do next...

Any advice greatly appreciated!
K x

Was that your homebuyers survey or did you have a specific asbestos survey? A professional asbestos company can do a survey and should tell you if you have asbestos. If you had an asbestos survey already they should have tested the ceiling!
Or you can buy a testing kit yourself and send off a sample for analysis (I wouldnt want to do that tho!). The asbestos survey is expensive - £400 ish i think but the self test is £100 ish.

I would get an asbestos survey done - expensive but you dont want to mess about with asbestos. The risks are probably small in the case of the ceiling but do you want to take the chance?

Hope that helps.

From what i have been able to gather it is the new thing to put in surveys- that you may have asbestos (last year it was damp) and the surveyor will often try and cover themselves by putting it down. Having said that Skattiechik is right - asbestos was heavily used in homes - particularly in the 50/60's. Not only was it used as a fire-retardent boarding around boilers and under stairs (there was a legal requirement that it could withstand 30 mins - now changed to 60 I thinK - fire), but also in artex on ceilings, fire doors, some paints, piping, etc. Asbestos can also add tensile strenght to some materials and was used in construction of walls sometimes. There was a survey of a non sheffield council estate (which was built in the 60's) in the 90's and it was found everywhere - walls, ceilings, etc. It was commonly used in council estates especially big city council estates, as while it is expensive for some uses, it is cheaper than some products in construction (at the time). Many of us, more particularly those of us with homes from that period, may be living with it. There are different types of asbestos though and some are worse than others.

Oh and one more thing - the government advice for asbestos is to firstly know where it is, then if it is in good condition, not likely to be disturbed by DIY or any work and not going to flake away then leave it. Seal it and leave it. I would rather get it the hell away from me!!!!!

The answer to the question about how much of a danger asbestos can pose is- LOTS!

Research from various sources has shown that breathing a single asbestos fibre can cause mesothelioma- a form of lung cancer almost entirely caused by asbestos. Because of the long needle shape of the fibres they lodge in the lungs and cause local tumours which have a very poor prognosis for sufferers.