Asbestos panels on doors

[Murmansk]

A friend of mine has bought a flat on the top floor of a large Victorian ho use.

All the doors are original, but have been covered on one side with what tur ns out to be asbestos, to make them into fire doors.

We want to remove the asbestos but retain the doors. One company quoted £

2,000 to remove the 4 doors, take them away and bring them back without the asbestos. Another quoted £250 to remove the doors and dispose of them at the tip. Another said it was not possible to remove the doors and then tak e off the asbestos as the doors would be classed as "contaminated".

In practice we'll probably have new fire doors fitted but I wondered what o pinion is about the above?

We'd presumably have had to put some form of modern sheeting back on the or iginal doors to make them into fire doors, and they looked horrible, so new doors would at least look a lot better.

[meow2222]

urns out to be asbestos, to make them into fire doors.

£2,000 to remove the 4 doors, take them away and bring them back without the asbestos. Another quoted £250 to remove the doors and dispose of them at the tip. Another said it was not possible to remove the doors and then take off the asbestos as the doors would be classed as "contaminated".

opinion is about the above?

original doors to make them into fire doors, and they looked horrible, so n ew doors would at least look a lot better.

You can legally remove it yourself, double bag it and take it to the tip. W ear a suitable mask at least, and dont break the stuff unnecessarily.

Maybe put the original doors in the attic, they may be wanted one day

NT

[Murmansk]

Maybe put the original doors in the attic, they may be wanted one day

[Bob Minchin]

Well just pay loads of money unnecessarily to the scaremongering firms then.

[chris French]

Our LA has special rules about householders and disposing of asbestos cement products.

You can get special bags from them (for free IIRC - and big enough to get an 8x4 sheet in)), and then you need to take them to one of the waste transfer stations, not just any old local waste/recycling centre. Where they have a special skip for it.

[Tim Watts]

On Wednesday 15 January 2014 21:35 chris French wrote in uk.d-i-y:

Our LA says double bag it yourself then take it to any dump that has an asbestos skip (most of the larger ones, perhaps 1/3 of all dumps).

Don't even have to ring ahead...

[Peter Parry]

Is it Asbestos or Asbestos cement sheets? The probability is that it is Asbestos cement (very hard), if so the risk is very small and it does not require a specialist to remove it. £250 to throw the doors away is high but not far off. The other two quotes are silly but unfortunately not unusual, the asbestos removal mafia plays on irrational fears to make a problem out of nothing where asbestos cement is concerned.

[Scott M]

Wot he said.

And then make sure you never deal with MDF as the dust from that is more likely to give you lung problems than any amount of rigid asbestos sheeting.

[Nightjar]

The material used to fireproof doors is likely to be asbestos insulation board, rather than asbestos cement. As that is quite likely to contain brown asbestos, it is something that needs to be dealt with by a licensed contractor.

Colin Bignell

[Old Codger]

It is only recently that asbestos has become such a high profile risk and, IMHO, that risk is only significant for long term exposure to high concentrations. OK, folk with existing lung problems should perhaps be cautious but for your average bloke occasionally working with sheet or woven asbestos the risk is minimal.

Car brake pads used to be asbestos. When I serviced my car I would remove the drums, brush the dust out and then blow the last dregs out. Did this for years. When I bought my present property in 1966 there were sheets of asbestos in the sheds, and lash up timber framed asbestos shelters for storing wood. I have hand sawn, drilled and filed sheet asbestos and lagged pipes with woven asbestos. A few years ago I dismantled the last of the shelters and broke up the last of the sheet, bagged it up and disposed. I smoked heavily until around four years ago. I am in my mid 70s and do not appear to have suffered in any way from my exposure to asbestos, despite never wearing a mask or other protection when working with asbestos.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Masterboard is today's asbestos

[harryagain]

All the doors are original, but have been covered on one side with what turns out to be asbestos, to make them into fire doors.

We want to remove the asbestos but retain the doors. One company quoted

2,000 to remove the 4 doors, take them away and bring them back without the asbestos. Another quoted 250 to remove the doors and dispose of them at the tip. Another said it was not possible to remove the doors and then take off the asbestos as the doors would be classed as "contaminated".

In practice we'll probably have new fire doors fitted but I wondered what opinion is about the above?

We'd presumably have had to put some form of modern sheeting back on the original doors to make them into fire doors, and they looked horrible, so new doors would at least look a lot better.

There are two forms of asbestos you need concern yourself about.

"Millboard" Soft stuff. Almost pure asbestos and needs to be removed by experts.

"Abestos cement." Hard stuff. Around 10% asbestos content. You can remove yourself, double bag, and dispose of at most recycle centres. (As others have said)

However there is an alternative; leave it in position and make it safe and mark it up as asbestos. You could cover it with ply, seal the edges and paint.

But to be official you have to put on asbestos hazard signs.

It does make the place harder to sell as any buyer has to be notified.

[harryagain]

Some people can get away with it. Others have died with only a few fibres, No-one can say how you will be affected, it's very variable.

A woman died of asbestos lung cancer by washing her husbands overalls a few years back.

[harryagain]

BTW. Check for other asbestos round the the place. Inside chimneys, fireplaces, stoves, ceilings, boilerhouses, pipework.

[Martin Brown]

I suspect you are right - the fireproofing stuff tends to have free fibres rather than the more common white asbestos cement board.

If by recently you mean the 1970's then I suppose you are right.

There is a bit too much hysteria these days about removing white asbestos cement board from everywhere and making a mess in the process, but loose lagging material was seriously nasty and few people who worked with it in the pre-PPE days are still around to tell the tale.

Try telling that to Malcolm McClaren - probably the most high profile mesothelioma casualty as a result of his smashing up and careless handling of the relatively safe cement asbestos board in his shop.

If there is loose fibre blue or brown asbestos present and there might well be with insulating fire proof boards then you really want to be very careful not to raise a dust. Unless you are used to working with nasty materials for minimum contamination you don't want to do it.

An alternative is to spray the boards in some approved high tack two part liquid paint that wicks in, cures and binds everything together. I recall something like that being used on an asbestos lined observatory dome back in the 1970's to prevent chucks dropping off. The whole lot was professionally stripped in the 1990's when it became completely unacceptable to have serious amounts of blue asbestos in the workplace. (obviously it would no longer be very fireproof)

You might be able to get a modern intumescent paint formulation that has all the required properties but you are in expensive specialist territory.

It takes up to 40 years to cause noticeable damage. You may still have shortened your lifespan by careless handling of asbestos dust. It is a matter of luck, genetics and other potential cofactors like smoking.

[Geoff Pearson]

Do you need fire doors?

[Peter Parry]

Depending upon when it was fitted, after the early 1970's it could also be Supalux calcium silicate board which looks similar the asbestolux. Asbestos cement was certainly used to create "Fire Doors", it had the advantage over the soft Asbestolux of being much less likely to be damaged by impacts.

[Peter Parry]

You do not need to use an asbestos register contractor to remove the doors (not the board) even if they are lined with asbestos containing fibreboard.

See

[Fredxxx]

I'm surprised it says "If unpainted, spray the board with PVA sealant".

The idea of spraying and it's corresponding disturbance through air movement is hardly ideal.

I would have thought hand painting with a brush and/or roller would be better?

[dennis]

It wouldn't be any use for a fire door.. the last time I burnt some it exploded once it got hot. There were bits of burning wood attached to bits of board all over the place. It took about 15 minutes IIRC.