Asbestos test?

[Dave Rove]

I had intended to remove the 1970s stippled paint coating on the ceilings of my house and since there are warnings on the web about possible asbestos content, I asked this group about safety precautions. The consensus was: don't touch it or just board it over.

I've decided that I really need to find out if it contains asbestos or not. I could rip off a small piece of the ceiling paper that it's coated onto, and get it tested. Commercial testing services that I've found on the web seem to expect you to take the sample to their premises where they'll charge you >£100 for the test. I'd have thought that local councils might have testing services, but I can't see anything on my local council's website. Any ideas about how this is normally done?

[Chris French]

In message , Dave Rove writes

This place does it for £25,

Or £36

Or £18:

Chris

[Dave Rove]

Excellent. Thanks. Evidently I didn't persevere enough with my Googling.

[Peter Parry]

seems to be reliable and unlike others doesn't try sell any other "services" after their analysis.

[harryagain]

And then what? You spent ?5000 getting it removed? Some things are best not to know, this is one of them.

[Dave Rove]

"Many thanks for your reassurances and the article. We will learn from this - a £175 lesson that sounds like it could have cost more! Thank also for your most informative website and your prompt reply. It was much appreciated." -- Chris A

Hmmm. So there's untrustworthy services and there's expensive services?

[Dave Rove]

If it's asbestos, I'll board it over. If it's not, I'll scrape it off and re-paint (and maybe re-paper) the ceiling.

Re-boarding sounds like a challenge for the DIYer but if that's necessary, then that's what I'll try.

[Nightjar]

It is fairly simple, if you hire a plasterboard lift. This one has a lower platform to stand on while fixing the sheet, which not all do:

[Brian Gaff]

I thought I was the cynic around here? :-) I think if they did not work they might have been taken to court by now. I I do wonder what they do though. The only real way to figure this I'd have thought would be mass spectroscopy. Be interested in the outcome, as my gut feeling is that its not asbestos. Brian

[Dave Rove]

On Fri, 19 Sep 2014 08:45:17 +0100, Nightjar It is fairly simple, if you hire a plasterboard lift. This one has a

I see. But as a DIYer, I'd be working on and off, redecorating one room at a time, walls and ceilings, so hiring equipment would be expensive.

Googling for plasterboard support suggests that DIYers could struggle on with a couple of props like this:

[Bill Taylor]

These are much better

stronger and they don't collapse when you try to put a bit of pressure on.

For not a lot of money you could get something like

A bit wobbly, but it does work, and packs into a fairly small volume.

[Nightjar]

I think those who suggest you could get by with something like that haven't actually tried it. If you have a couple of people to lift the board into place, then a couple of props (traditionally timber T pieces) are useful to take the weight while fixing. If you are working alone, you really need a lifter.

You could buy a simpler lifter, such as this, and sell it when you have finished:

[Peter Parry]

You will often find this. A company will offer a service and price it to make a reasonable profit. Another may sell a similar service at a loss, using it as bait to give it an opportunity to "up sell" an associated (and very much more expensive) service.