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Asbestos Removal

paulsturgess
paulsturgess Posts: 3,965
in Not Sports Related
Random one but I've just bought a flat in Lewisham which has some horrible suspended ceiling tiles in living room, hall and bedroom. Gonna rip them down, but mortgage survey said may be asbestos. Trying to find somebody to come round and have a look for me and price to remove if they are asbestos, just wondering if there's anyone on here who might be interested or anyone got any recomms who won't charge through the nose.

Cheers

Comments

  • northstandsteve
    northstandsteve Posts: 14,355
    pikeys
  • Swisdom
    Swisdom Posts: 14,979
    we recently had an Asbestos survey at our place - www.asi-asbestos-surveys.co.uk

    Decent service to be honest and a reasonable price. They can advise either way
  • HarryLime
    HarryLime Posts: 1,295
    Call de cloob, ask of Daisy, she seems to be au fait with any Asbestos issues.
  • Red_James
    Red_James Posts: 186
    Yes im a H&S/Contracts Manager for a licensed asbestos removal company but only deal with commercial works but have some advise, if it is just the ceiling tiles that you want to remove then ask a company to just take a sample of them instead of a whole survey to the property as it will be cheaper (unless you are refurbishing the whole property i.e taking walls out, flooring up etc then you are better off with a survey report as it will cover the whole property).

    sample will probably be around £150 + VAT whereas survey would be £350 + VAT

    You are better off with a company that is accredited with ARCA as this is our trade association/training provider with regards to the removal works. If you go onto their website you can search for companies within your area

    Does it say what type of asbestos these ceiling tiles are?

    Happy to give advice if you need anything else
  • swords_alive
    swords_alive Posts: 4,416
    I used PA Group of Dartford to test 3 different samples when I had a survey report say there may be asbestos in my artex ceiling. Came back negative. Cost £30 for all three samples. Instructions on their website as to how to carefully remove and package the samples.
  • paulsturgess
    paulsturgess Posts: 3,965
    That's class cheers all, @Red_James no it doesn't say what type they are, it doesn't even say for sure they are asbestos, but should get it checked out. I'm gonna refurb the whole flat, so wondering whether it's worth forking out for a full survey or not, but don't want to spunk a few hundred quid when the reality is there's probably none and even the ceiling tiles might not even be asbestos.

    Maybe sending off samples myself as @swords_alive for a cheap test is the way forward?
  • Red_James
    Red_James Posts: 186
    It's worth speaking to your neighbours and see if they have or had the same ceiling tiles and if they have had them tested as more than likely would all be the same materials when they built the building also ask them if they have came across asbestos anywhere else and ask the lease management company if they have an asbestos management report for the building (this will probably only cover communal areas but i imagine when they first built the building they would have used the same materials throughout).

    if there isn't any asbestos in the communal areas then i suspect there wont be in the flats are the ceiling tiles the same as yours in the hallways?

    Yes if you are happy to take the sample yourself and to send it off to them its definitely a lot cheaper, my rough price would be for someone to come out and take the sample for you.
  • paulsturgess
    paulsturgess Posts: 3,965
    that's great mate thank you very much. Its a house with two flats and I've also bought the freehold so there's no management company, and no communal areas!

    I am going to be refurbing so I may just fork out for a full survey for peace of mind. There's a dodgy 70s bathroom extension on the back so i guess that could also contain asbestos so worth getting all checked.

    Out of interest, say the tiles do contains asbestos, what sort of price am I looking at to get them removed, covering say 40sqm?
  • Addickted
    Addickted Posts: 19,456
    The amount of asbestos content in suspended ceiling tiles is minimal and is most likely white asbestos (chrysotile) and you do not have to be a registered asbestos remover to get rid of it

    If it were me, I'd get myself some PPE, dampen down the tiles, glue with adhesive any damaged tiles and carefully take down whole tiles at a time.

    They then need to be double bagged and taken to a registered tip for specialist removal. Best to check the quantity your local tip will allow you leave there. Your local authority should be able to sell you the correct plastic bags - normally red inner with a clear outer bag.

    Finally make sure all the PPE you have used is disposed of the same way.

    If any dust or debris has been left behind, do not sweep or vacuum it up. Mop up with a damp cloth and dispose of as above.

    If you don't feel confident, make sure you get three quotes for it's removal as prices vary dramatically. There are plenty of registered asbestos removers around in South London and Kent and all have to follow strict guidelines.

  • paulsturgess
    paulsturgess Posts: 3,965
    Good advice, cheers Addickted

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  • cafckev
    cafckev Posts: 2,923
    As its already been mentioned, most councils have at least one tip that will take asbestos. Medway say it must be double bagged and tapped shut and secure. Its not too much hassle.
  • Red_James
    Red_James Posts: 186
    With regards to price It depends on what the asbestos material is within the ceiling tiles as what addickted has said above is true if it is chrysotile asbestos you could remove yourself as per above but if it contains amosite (brown) or crocidolite (blue) asbestos you will need a company that has a full HSE asbestos removal licence (can check their website for who has these in your local area). I have come across a lot of ceiling tiles that contain all different types of asbestos so i would personally say its better to test it first so you know for certain
  • Addickted
    Addickted Posts: 19,456
    Red_James said:

    With regards to price It depends on what the asbestos material is within the ceiling tiles as what addickted has said above is true if it is chrysotile asbestos you could remove yourself as per above but if it contains amosite (brown) or crocidolite (blue) asbestos you will need a company that has a full HSE asbestos removal licence (can check their website for who has these in your local area). I have come across a lot of ceiling tiles that contain all different types of asbestos so i would personally say its better to test it first so you know for certain

    Very unlikely that the asbestos content in a domestic ceiling tile would be either blue or brown, particularly as both were banned in 1985 and white asbestos products were banned in November 1999.

  • Red_James
    Red_James Posts: 186
    Addickted said:

    Red_James said:

    With regards to price It depends on what the asbestos material is within the ceiling tiles as what addickted has said above is true if it is chrysotile asbestos you could remove yourself as per above but if it contains amosite (brown) or crocidolite (blue) asbestos you will need a company that has a full HSE asbestos removal licence (can check their website for who has these in your local area). I have come across a lot of ceiling tiles that contain all different types of asbestos so i would personally say its better to test it first so you know for certain

    Very unlikely that the asbestos content in a domestic ceiling tile would be either blue or brown, particularly as both were banned in 1985 and white asbestos products were banned in November 1999.

    We still come across AIB (asbestos insulation board) ceiling tiles which contain amosite asbestos
  • Addickted
    Addickted Posts: 19,456
    Red_James said:

    Addickted said:

    Red_James said:

    With regards to price It depends on what the asbestos material is within the ceiling tiles as what addickted has said above is true if it is chrysotile asbestos you could remove yourself as per above but if it contains amosite (brown) or crocidolite (blue) asbestos you will need a company that has a full HSE asbestos removal licence (can check their website for who has these in your local area). I have come across a lot of ceiling tiles that contain all different types of asbestos so i would personally say its better to test it first so you know for certain

    Very unlikely that the asbestos content in a domestic ceiling tile would be either blue or brown, particularly as both were banned in 1985 and white asbestos products were banned in November 1999.

    We still come across AIB (asbestos insulation board) ceiling tiles which contain amosite asbestos
    We've got tons of AIB in our stock, but none of it is used as a domestic ceiling tile. These aren't AIB though from the description - these are lightweight tiles set in a suspended grid (can you confirm PS?)

  • paulsturgess
    paulsturgess Posts: 3,965
    Hi addickted, yes they're lightweight suspended grid tiles with a circa 300mm void above to the main ceiling. Couple of pics attached of the two different ceilings.

    I think the message here is that I should probably get a survey done regardless to check whether they actually contain asbestos, if so what type, then I can decide whether to get professional removal or just rip out myself...
  • danny777
    danny777 Posts: 223
    While you're looking at possible asbestos, I thought I'd just mention that if the flat has any old storage heaters, they may also contain asbestos. If they do, they would need professional wrapping and removal. However, they wouldn't require sampling as there must be a database somewhere of makes and models which contain asbestos.
  • paulsturgess
    paulsturgess Posts: 3,965
    Thanks Danny that's useful to know

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