Asbestos in Artex Ceilings circa 1979?

Almost certainly, but small quantity only of the least dangerous sort. It was the early 80s it stopped containing asbestos. My second extension c. 1987 will be clear, but my house, dated 1977 will not be. I'm not sure about my first extension ceilings from about 1982.

I'd rate that a daft idea, on more than just asbestos grounds. Why not use CFLs?

i would think so

it doesnt seem to constitute a genuine safety issue, but downlighters are about as poor a lighting design as you can get.

NT

In message , snipped-for-privacy@privacy.net writes

Are there any simple/cheap ways of testing the Artex for asbestos?

The "asbestos watchdog" used to provide a cheap testing service, try them.

Thanks, I'll take a look

Why bother? Simply assume it does contain Chrysotile and treat accordingly. The risk is trivial in any case so simply minimise dust by using something like a padsaw rather than a hole cutter. If you want to be a bit paranoid tape a large clear plastic bag with the padsaw inside it to the ceiling around where you want the hole, hold the padsaw from outside the bag and all the dust will be contained in the bag.

The Asbestos Watchdog do provide a cheap (=A320 donation) service to test materials for asbestos. Their website