My garage has an Asbestolux? ceiling. Can I have it plastered over?

It's an internal ceiling, not actual roof covering exposed to the weather.

Reply to
Andrew
Loading thread data ...

replying to John Rumm, Ian wrote: I have to cut away a 4ft x2ft section to expose ceiling joists. I don't want to pay for an expensive contractor for such a small job. What precautions should I take to remove with minimum harm to myself? Any suggestions?

Reply to
Ian

According to HSE all work carried out on Asbestos which includes Asbestos boards such as Asbestolux should be done by licensed contractors. About the only asbestos removal that a DIYer can do is Asbestos/cement boards because the risk is very low. We removed a garage roof made of corrugated cement/asbestos but took the precaution of Tevac suits and face masks. If your local council has an asbestos disposal facility you will find they will probably only accept cement/asbestos and will require it to be double wrapped too. Post 1976 a replacement product was made called Supalux recognisable by its glittery surface look owing to mica being incorporated. It was supposed to be asbestos free but there is some debate whether it is contaminated as it was produced at the same facilities that previously made asbestos board.

Richard

Reply to
Tricky Dicky

I spent years sunbathing on my parents asbestolux garage roof.

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

Sawing the stuff is difficult and creates a hazard. Better to remove a whole panel, intact if possible, and fit new board as required. Fibreglass reinforced cement sheet is the modern replacement. Wetting the asbestos cement sheet reduces risk of airborne fibres if it breaks.

Some tips take it if double bagged.

NT

Reply to
tabbypurr

I would suggest you don't break it or machine it further. Soak it before handling. Then double bag it, tape it up, and take it to a local tip that has an asbestos skip.

Reply to
John Rumm

The main problem with anything made of asbestos cement or similar is aging making them so brittle you can easily go straight through. However even we had to get a company in to take it all down and bag and remove it. I find it very odd that asbestos, a mineral, is so dangerous. I guess its the way we use it concentrated and in fibres that makes it dangerous. I used to saw the corrugated cement panels with a power jigsaw back in the 70s with no ill effects, the dust was not airborne.

Brian

Reply to
Brian Gaff (Sofa 2)

Asbestos fibres can't be expelled from and irritates the lung causing cancer. Talcum powder is identical chemically but doesn't take the for of fibres.

Talcum powder was often contaminated with asbestos. Comes from the same place.

Reply to
harry

and it then kills quite quickly. A friend was diagnosed in April and died in September. It's untreatable.

Reply to
charles

Many illnesses are like that. Lung cancer and bowel cancer and pancreatic cancers

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

There are two categories of asbestos - chrysotile (white asbestos), a serpentine group mineral, and crocidolite/amosite (blue/brown asbestos), amphibole group minerals. They are different minerals, with different chemistries and crystal structures. The thing they have in common is their fibrous growth habit, which means that when finely dispersed in the air they can find their way down into the finest passages in the lungs, the alveoli, and the body cannot expel them.

White asbestos fibres are generally shorter and chunkier than those of blue asbestos, and that, plus their different chemistries, means that chrysotile fibres can be enclosed by clean-up cells (?phages) and will slowly dissolve away over a few years, whereas crocidolite is too long to be enclosed, doesn't dissolve and continues to irritate the lung for many years, resulting in cancer (mesothelioma). Consequently, the latter is a much more serious threat than the former. Unfortunately, deposits of white asbestos can contain low levels of blue/brown asbestos.

The asbestos used in asbestos-cement products tends to be the white form, whereas the asbestos used in insulation or asbestos fabrics is usually the blue form, but this is not an absolute - some asbestos- cement may contain blue asbestos, and that's where the problem lies - you can't be sure without specialised testing.

Wiki is quite detailed on all of this

formatting link

True. The company I used to work for was at one time interested in talc deposits in the one of the Hebridean islands, Harris, until our microscopist showed it contained chrysotile asbestos fibres, at which point they dropped it like a hot potato!

Reply to
Chris Hogg

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.