Last Updated on August 24, 2020 by

Think your house could contain asbestos?

Concerned about asbestos in the home? Asbestos can be found in any residential building that was built or refurbished before the year 2000.

There are lots of common building materials in and around the home that will contain asbestos.

However, you shouldn’t necessarily be overly concerned about asbestos in the home, as if it’s left undisturbed and undamaged it poses no problem.

It’s only a cause for concern if and when you decide to carry out any DIY, refurbishment or building works that may cause any asbestos containing materials to become damaged.

Where can you find asbestos in the home?

Asbestos containing materials could be lurking in plenty of places around the home, both inside and outside.

The most common places inside the home where you will find asbestos are:-

Internal

• Asbestos cement water tank
• Pipe lagging
• Loose fill insulation
• Textured decorative coating eg artex
• Toilet seat and cistern
• Vinyl floor tiles
• AIB ceiling tiles
• AIB bath panel
• AIB behind fuse box
• AIB airing cupboard and/or sprayed insulation coating boiler
• AIB partition wall
• AIB interior window panel
• AIB around boiler
• AIB behind fireplace

*AIB is an abbreviation used for Asbestos Insulating Board.

External

The most common places outside the home where you will find asbestos are:-

• Gutters and Asbestos cement downpipes
• Soffits – AIB or asbestos cement
• AIB exterior window panel
• Asbestos cement roof
• Asbestos cement panels
• Roofing felt

If you want to know what any of these common asbestos containing materials look like so that you can easily identify them in your home, please click here.

Do I need to do anything if asbestos is in my home?

Asbestos is only a danger when fibers are disturbed and become airborne, resulting in them being breathed in.

Therefore, you don’t need to do anything about it so long as the asbestos is in good condition and is located somewhere it can’t be easily damaged, for example an artex ceiling.

As long as this is the case then asbestos poses no health risk to you.

You should, however, periodically check the condition of the materials from time to time, just to make sure they haven’t been damaged in any way or started to deteriorate.

If you’re not sure whether or not there is asbestos in your home and you want to find out for peace of mind/future reference, then you can have an asbestos testing company come and take samples for you and have them tested in an independent laboratory.

Seek help from a trained contractor

Strongly suspect or know for certain that there is asbestos in your home? Planning any renovations? Then under no circumstances should you ever attempt to repair or remove any asbestos materials yourself if you have not had the correct training for non licensed asbestos work.

You must seek help from a professional who has had the correct training.

Some ACM’s (asbestos containing materials) with only slight damage can be repaired by sealing or enclosing them.

Any badly damaged asbestos containing material likely to become further damaged should be completely removed if it can’t be protected.

There are some materials such as sprayed asbestos coatings, asbestos lagging or insulation and asbestos insulating board that should only be removed by a HSE licensed contractor.

Visit the HSE website for more detailed information or contact your local council.

Did you find this article interesting?  Then check out our other interesting articles below.

For all your asbestos training needs call us on 0161 761 4424 or visit https://www.armcoasbestostraining.co.uk/asbestos-training-courses/ to book an asbestos training course.

Need an asbestos survey or a refurbishment/demolition survey? Then contact us on 0161 763 3727 or by visiting our sister site https://www.armco.org.uk/

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Published Mar 05, 2019