LF Advice wrt asbestos

kuchurV2 · Postby **kuchurV2** » December 29th, 2019, 5:26 pm

Hi,

Bought a house in my budget but hoping to use it for a 5 years and then renovate.

My only concern is that despite being is ok condition. The ceiling looks good however i want to make sure that its not asbestos.

How can i test this or where?

Nexus · Postby **Nexus** » December 29th, 2019, 5:30 pm

Industry and commercial would usually call in a certified agency like cariri. Might be able to research stuff online etc, but for peace of mind better call a pro

maj. tom · Postby **maj. tom** » December 29th, 2019, 5:58 pm

Well if you're suspicious of asbestos you should be wearing an N95 rated dust mask and a sealed googles so particles cannot get in contact with your eyes. To test for asbestos you need a stereo microscope to look for asbestos fibers within the sample, which means a lab like CARIRI. To collect the sample there's a whole procedure required for a proper collection and necessary PPE and then proper disposal of the PPE. It's something like Chernobyl when it comes to asbestos because of the micro-residue that sticks everywhere.

So you would really need to contact a company that does this, and all that won't be cheap. I read some time ago that SWMCOL had to remove asbestos from schools, so contact them with an email maybe.

Sygma Environmental also offers services:
https://sygmaenvironmental.com/services ... sessments/

VexXx Dogg · Postby **VexXx Dogg** » December 29th, 2019, 6:35 pm

kuchurV2 wrote:Hi,

Bought a house in my budget but hoping to use it for a 5 years and then renovate.

My only concern is that despite being is ok condition. The ceiling looks good however i want to make sure that its not asbestos.

How can i test this or where?

How old is the ceiling? Could also be really old fiberglass tile

rspann · Postby **rspann** » December 29th, 2019, 7:03 pm

I don't think asbestos would be found in dwelling houses here as it was not a choice in years gone by for residential uses. It might be really fiberglass (or mineral fibre board)if it's a suspended ceiling or most likely celotex (or hardboard was another choice) if it's one of those old houses where they used 2x2 wooden grids they called catting. the thing is though, most electricians used a piece of asbestos behind all ceiling sockets to insulate the ceiling from catching fire from the heat generated by the lightbulb. Asbestos was more common in commercial use where the material was imported.