An aged 1930s asbestos garage needs demolishing and removing from my garden. As I understand it this is low grade asbestos which can be disposed of (usually) at the council tip providing it is double bagged.
Its not a job I plan to take on myself.
What kind of contractor should I ask to quote for this? For example, would a "handyman" consider it, or would they steer clear?
Cheers!
Matt
You'd have to ask them. I daresay some will say,'not with a barge pole' but others won't give a monkeys. For sure they will be orders of magnitude cheaper than if you get an asbestos-removal outfit round to it, wearing space suits etc.
I have no personal expertise about absestos dangers, but have you read the adjacent thread about a corrugated asbestos roof? Might help.
David
Go for the duckin' and divin' handyman type otherwise you run the risk of getting the jobsworth full blown elfin safety types.
You are correct there are minimal issues with asbestos cement but many contractors will try and take you for a ride.
Good Luck
Bob
It's difficult.
If you employ someone, legally it should be someone licensed to handle/ transport asbestos.
I disposed of my own asbestos garage roof, and at that time (5 years ago) Cambridgeshire would accept up to 2 sheets per householder.
I phoned for advice, and the council bod told me just to go round each site and get rid of 2 sheets at each.
No one was on patrol at the first site I visited, so it all went in the asbestos bin there.
I've heard of people burying it in their own gardens, as some council sites won't look at it.
If you *do* go with someone unregulated, think about what they're doing with it - they could well be flytipping. You're also committing an offence by using an unregulated contractor.
Some councils have deals with asbestos disposal sites, where they subsidise the price of householders disposing of asbestos - phone your local council and ask.
White asbestos cement sheets aren't particularly hazardous (but are astonishingly heavy), but dumping the problem on someone else via some fly(tipping)-by-night cowboy ain't very nice.
Some of the more enlightened councils will collect if you can have it down and stacked ready for them.
I always find that lunchtime is a good time to go to the dump....
In Cambridge, if you dismatle it yourself the council will supply bags (numbered and annotated with your car registration umber) for you to put them in. You then take them to the dump and they check the numbers. This service is free.
In order to get the bags you have to answer a barrage of questions. They want to know if any professional has been involved in the demolition and who they were. You only get the bags if you do the job yourself. if you hire someone to do it or to help you, they have to pay the commercial cost of disposal.
Robert
As already stated, employing someone opens a whole can of expensive worms.
The differing rules about asbestos disposal are ridiculous. Newbury Council charged £20 an item. Basingstoke Council took it for free. Which council do you think encouraged dumping and fly tipping?
If asbestos is really such a big problem then we should be actively encouraged to 'hand in' all our asbestos for disposal.
Perhaps it may be time to call in a few favours and get some friends to join you in non-commercial DIY.
Cheers
Dave R
example,
If you are laying a concrete base for a new garage, then put the sheets under the hard core before compacting, and wet them well, then lay the concrete as per normal. This way there is no hazard as the dust is controlled, and the asbestos is entombed in concrete so safe as houses. As it's not left your site, and been reused, it's not classed as waste anyway
AWEM
Think of the poor sod who buys your house and decdes to demolish the garage and base. I work in a school where this sort of thinf was done by reputable contractors years ago. When we decided to dig up the raised bed the asbestos was burried in it cost 2 days delay and hundreds of pounds to rectify the problem. you could be faced with a large bill years in the future
Malcolm
This handyman would steer well clear. I'm not bothered by the alledged danger of the asbestos, but getting rid of it could turn into a nightmare. You would need a hazardous waste transfer licence for a start.
That is appalling advice. Yes, it may be entombed within concrete when built. But once someone starts digging that up in the future, asbestos fibres will be everywhere. Not to mention during compacting.
Wetting asbestos should take place before even trying to remove it.
hundreds
I would hazard a guess that there are very few sites where buildings have been since the early 1900's that don't have some asbestos cement waste in the ground. It certainly was very common not too long ago to find crushed corrugated asbestos within a load of hardcore. The white asbestos threat in the percentages in reinforced cement is not very high and said to be less of a threat to human health than the fine fibres of rockwool insulation.
AWEM
I'd not consider it that way. It's still dangerous stuff once you start taking it apart. Sure, it is far more stable than asbestos insulation or mattresses, but years of weathering will likely have made it ripe for crumbling.
I've been reading Magic Mineral to Killer Dust recently. It's amazing just how long ago they knew that asbestos was the killer it is. And what is more amazing is that the preconception that it's years of exposure that can cause asbestosis, is simply not true. There are several cases of employees getting the disease after just months.
Yes - ignorance was bliss. But we know a lot better now.
Said by whom. Can you back that up? Once you crush asbestos, the fibres are everywhere. And unlike rockwool, you can't see the majority of asbestos fibres.
Presumably not if the customer disposes of it
NT
Throuble with asbestos fibres is that they break down into smaller and smaller fibres, unlike rockwool. These smaller fibres are small enough to puncture smaller parts of cells and start them reproducing abnormally.
Dave
Thanks - I sort of hoped you'd come around this thread, a useful benchmark for the "sort of handyman" that I'd like to be able to employ!
Unfortunately, it seems to me there are only two options:-
- DIY
- men in space suits!
Time to raid the piggy bank!
Matt
See chapter 13 of this
Don't know that one, but try this for perhaps a more balanced view
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