Asbestos, any experts?

So when buying the house we got the keys to on Friday, asbestos came up in house survey. My missus then spoke to a company that would do a “proper” asbestos survey. They found asbestos in the soffits (leaving), artex ceilings (planned to remove), tiles on ground floor (removing) and airing cupboard (removing – notification required). Based off their report we then had an extraction company booked in, including them notifying the HSE for the really nasty stuff 2 and a bit weeks ago.

So yesterday all the asbestos team and their equipment turned up, setup to start with the airing cupboard when I receive a call. Turns out the nasty stuff is WAY behind their HSE notification scope and actually is even surrounding the damn house beam that runs into both neighbours!! They then couldn’t work on the ceilings below for fear that the damaged nasty stuff was sat on the ceiling – a HSE issue.

Now the extra stuff is REALLY easy to spot, if you know what you’re looking for, and since they found it at the back of the airing cupboard which is accessed through a walk in service entrance all they needed to do was look above them!!!

I’m now having ANOTHER survey done on Monday…

Questions:
1) Do I have any recourse on the initial surveyors as this has just cost me two weeks I don’t have and god knows how much more money…
2) The plasterers, builders & electricians are happy to work on the artex stuff with protection. Would you be happy living with the artex ceilings sealed in with plaserboard?
3) Am I having the p*** taken out of me here?!

Damaged asbestos board:

and they said debris could be sat on the ceiling below. But that looks like the same piece to me!?

Asbestos!!!!

1) Yes
2) Yes but if you’ve notified to get rid, you may as well do a thorough job.
3) I don’t think so.

It’s really important to understand that notifiable asbestos has to be removed under a specific licence for that part of the house. You can’t just licence an entire property, because then effectively any material that comes out of your house would be classed as hazardous.

I’m no expert but that looks like asbestos cement to me rather than the nastier asbestos insulated board which is fluffier and flakier looking.

The two* pieces in your pictures do have a very similar shape.

I might be asking another, different, and unconnected company to carry out the second survey. (but it is a small world and in a given area, there’s a good chance they know each other).

don’t take any chances with the stuff. get a proper expert in to advise you.

Do they mean that pipe insulation? Asbestos pipe insulation is particularly nasty and may well be beyond their abilities.

Sounds like a good company who are protecting you pretty well, good job they didn’t just ignore at and put themselves and you at risk.

Debris on ceilings is also pretty common, so the ceilings should either be cleaned or removed by the licensed contractor.

Asbestos is a nightmare. On a recent project our client caught a cold by using a poor surveyor. Don’t take any chances – a belt & braces approach is always best here.

2) The plasterers, builders & electricians are happy to work on the artex stuff with protection. Would you be happy living with the artex ceilings sealed in with plaserboard?

yes

Would you be happy living with the artex ceilings sealed in with plaserboard?

Yep, as long as you don’t disturb it there is no risk.

Belt and braces for the artex would be pva coating before skim or overboarding. Make sure you supply records to next owner or contractors that may have to work on it in the future.

My uncle died of asbestosis. its a serious problem

it took 3 weeks to cremate him…..

my structural survey missed the garages asbestos roof. any recourse as it’s going to cost a chunk more to replace now. corregated concrete stuff not really bad stuff

Take a look at the HSE asbestos essentials task manual, gives good practical advise as to what the HSE class as licenced and non licenced work. Looks like you are going about it the correct way so far.

Thanks all.

Yeah the plan was for them to remove asbestos in the airing cupboard, ground floor tiles and take off all ceilings. Once they’d done I had a builder removing internal wall, sparky rewiring the house/spotlighting it and plumber replacing old system with a combi. Finally a plasterer to come in and put up soundbloc plasterboard and get everything ready for painting. With a move in date of just after Christmas.

Things are not going to plan!! 😆

We had a similar thing with the house we ended up pulling out of.
Asbestos in the soffits, warm air boiler & cupboard, tiles and glue on flooring, ducting etc.
Was quoted £22,000 to have it all removed properly which the beneficiary charity had agreed to remove. The solicitor **** things up by not allowing us to extend completion (allowing for bad weather) and not allowing us to see proof that the work had been carried out properly.

Yeah, similar here.

Leaving the soffits for another day though!

Everyone goes mental over this stuff, yet all the tradesman I’ve got doing other bits are happy to work around the stuff (bar the airing cupboard).

Mental!

I’ve had to insist on them wearing masks, by actually buying them!!

Happy days* 😆

*extreme sarcasm

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/property/house-prices/10864514/Failed-property-survey-Now-sellers-must-disclose-all.html

IANAE, but the lots of places, including schools, have asbestos in Artex and floor tiles.
It’s a pain if you leave it because you need to advise trades and future buyers of its existence, and have a plan if there’s a problem. We had an asbestos survey that trades saw and signed and those records needed to be kept for 40 years.
An annual check of the condition of the various areas needed to be made (a photographic record showing no changes was adequate)
I would get the AIB removed, and decide if the additional work is necessary. It might be cost-effective to get rid of the lot, especially as the affected areas will probably already be sealed tight in a negative pressure plastic bubble.
The detail is incredible; nail holes will be drilled out and the dust removed, cobwebs will go too.
Make sure that you’re seated when the bill comes 🙂

All the cupboard stuff, including debris is being removed. The rest is being PVA? sealed up and boarded over.

Obviously keeping all records of works done for the next buyers. The entire estate is full of it – it’s mental how much stuff must have been used. My neighbours didn’t even know it was in their house.

what you have done is actually bought a doomsday preppers bunker. that house would have survived a nuke there’s that much of the stuff.

Pahhh! Just get a damp hankie over your face and hold your breath!

Never did me any harm”cough”….