Killer Artex!

I will at some point get it tested, hopefully it won't contain it also as I have said on one of my earlier posts the builder called LEECH homes not sure if you remember them? Has been out of buisness for a long time. Most websites claim it was banned in 1984 or 1990 so hopefully 5 years on from 1990 there would not be any old artex left surely? Really I would like to know if the garge roof contains asbestos it is just a slate roof. I have looked round and there is black sheets like a diamond shape is this Asbestos? Really homeowners are told little about Asbestos, these websites do freak me out and I am sure many others too. Considring my house was built exactly 4 years before the ban surely the builders would have had sense not to use it the health risks have actually been known since the 1980's and probably before that! Yet it was proabably used somewhere up to 1999.

 

Just thinking though doing sampling is surely going to disturb the Asbestos if there is any?

 

you just take a small sample and send it off, the results will arrive in the post. maybe its a better idea that you move address

 

Out of intrest when was your house built? Surely my artex should be Asbestos free if it was applied in 1995? provided that old stock was not being used, also my house was one of the last 5 houses built on the estate.

 

i dont have a house, my lifes path has taken me through many properties that i have owned and i now live in a wooden shack in a field. i do feel that all that is left for you to do is test some artex and find out. i can say that as long as new artex was used in 1995 then you are asbestos free.

 

Would Asbestos have been used on Soffit boards/Facia? in 1995? I think they are made out of wood? I have drilled holes in them to fit an solar power outdoor light.
There does not seem to be any infomation on internet about soffits apart from that they could contain Asbestos. They say any building built before 2000 could contain it yet it says that it has not been used on UK construction since mind 1980's I am confused

 

If it looks like wood, drills like wood, smells like wood, produces sawdust like wood, splinters like wood, can be damaged using a screwdriver like wood, can be screwed like wood, and has fibres like wood, then it's y'know. Wud.

 

as far as i know you have four soffit board options,plastic, wood, asbestos or no soffit board. plastic you will know because it will most likely be white or brown and possibly have  a very regular vent running along the whole length. wood will either be stained and you will see knots and grain in it or painted and you will likely still see knots and grains in it. asbestos will possibly be painted but with no visible knots or grains just either a smooth or mottled surface or bare grey with either a smooth or mottled surface, i have never come across asbestos fascia, in my knowledge you dont get asbestos fascia.

 

Well there is bits of paint coming off it and it looks like a metal grey colour.  I could take a picture of it can you post photo's on here from a mobile phone? however the soffit vents look like a barbed wire/Stanless steel but the white random patches on some of them do look a bit odd.

 

to confuse you even more, if its a metal grey colour it doesn't automatically mean its asbestos, in the trade after asbestos was outlawed in came cement fibre board which in their wisdom the powers that be made the exact same colour as asbestos, for us tradies this means its touch and go what we are dealing with. mad isnt it.

 

A bit thurther forward here! My neighbour is getting new PVC guttering and new damproofing tiles on the side of the roof. There is a massive chunk of soffit board taken out and wood everywhere so it must contain wood. However we are hoping to build on the garage roof soon so i guess only then we will know if its Asbestos or something else?

 

im glad you've had some good news tj, i hope your garage comes up clean too.

 

Thanks surfermick,
my garage roof is not like the Asbestos cement type commonly found on farmers roofs. Its just slate roof tiles,
I will try to upload a picture of soffits and the long dark coloured strip is what I am concerned about.

 

haha It just gets worse for me! Today I went to the skip (rubble) I put some old motar into it as i put the old bag of it in a massive cloud of dust appeared. I assume there was bricks, plasterboard ect. I don't think it would be Asbestos dust? As they are not allowed to go in tips? if its just normal dust is it harmful? dear me I must be the laughing stock of the forum

 

wont do you any harm, they keep a close eye on what goes into the skips, asbestos goes into a special container that is kept locked.

 

Can anyone recall using bunsen burner mats when they were at school?
I remember scraping the match flame out on one and they recon it contains Asbestos! I also recall one time the inner sandwich layer of the fire door was damaged so you could see a big white part in the inner layer which i presume is Asbestos? Well I remember fellow class mates bashing it. Hopefully if these were asbestos would exposure be high or low? I don't know much about Asbestos other than it can kill.
Its quite worrying that you know you may have been exposed to it

 

is this a joke? the biggest killer for humans is STRESS, usually brought on by excessive worrying. do you think its possible that you have a teensy weensy leaning towards being obsessed about asbestos tj

 

Not obsessed just overly concerned I think about it however though I think I am well within my right to be concerned about it. The worst thing is nobody can do anything about it. for my house I will have to get it tested at some point. I would rather have it tested for piece of mind, school exposure well nothing i can do about that.

 

so at what point does overly concerned become a teensy  weensy bit obsessed tj. the 57th post, the 157th post?? i used to play on the garage roof as a kid, that was asbestos. have you ever wondered just how many other chemicals we have been subjected to over the years? chewing the end of those pencils before lead was removed, breathing in that lead in freshly painted schools, the chemicals in that lino, the rubber backing in that carpet. do you get your teeth exrayed when you visit the dentist, do you have fillings?? have you ever eaten burnt food on a barbie, do you eat red meat, drink low cal pop, drink tap water. all those car exhaust fumes over the years, do you live in a town/city, because if you do then i would suggest you move to the country my friend, the air is stuffed full of rubbish. i dont think im being obsessive here, im just being overly concerned.

 

Ok i get the point surfermick! Lets face it everything is bad for you then!