asbestos ceiling tiles

patrickolee

Bought a house in Crumlin. The surveyor said there were asbestos ceiling tiles in the house, but not to worry about it because as long as they aren't broken they are stable enough.

I was stripping the lovely wood chip wallpaper! today, when I came across a cracked ceiling tile... Should I seal this up somehow? Or replace the tile? Or get the ceilings taken out?

I'm plan to have the house re-wired in the next month or two, will the asbestos worry the electrician driling holes for drop lights?

Many thanks,
-des

mad m

Sure you cant touch the tiles or break them in any way.If the electrician is drilling imagine the dust that will come from it.I'd get rid of the ceiling tiles ASAP.

There must be a removal service,maybe try yellow pages.

patrickolee

Does everyone re-wiring houses in Crumlin/Drimnagh not have this problem? Maybe my surveyor is mistaken? He thought the house didn't have an extension when it did! Were the council houses built with asbestos ceiling tiles? Anyone know?

Thanks mad m, for your reply, will check for removal services.

mad m

Sounds to me that your Surveyor didnt do much of a job to be honest.Are you sure the ceiling tiles have asbestos? I'd get a second opinion,if you have a digital camera take a couple of pics and post them here.Im sure someone might be better able to advice you.

rooferPete

Hi Patrick,

I am inclined to think along the same lines as mad m, asbestos based ceiling tiles were used but in large commercial buildings.

I can't recall coming across asbestos based ceiling tiles in private homes, it would be interesting to know how the Surveyor could establish asbestos content without having the tiles tested and how he could give a positive report on the house when the laws regarding asbestos are being constantly updated and enforced.

.

Dilbert75

Get a sample tested. I had a factory floor cleared of asbestos vinyl tiles recently. Complete lockdown for a week and a bill of nearly €10k. We'd had samples anaylsed in advance though so we knew we had content there. A boiler house ceiling had a substance that looked like the real thing but turned out to be asbestos substitute.

Once you know whether or how much, you can make plans in full knowledge.

tabydub

Im bought a house in crumlin about 6 months ago and i also have ceiling tiles but my surveyor never said anything about them what are these tiles you are taking about and house are they dangerous?

FrankGrimes

I bought a house in a privately built part of Crumlin and have done a complete renovation. Tore down the ceilings which were made of a substance I'd never seen before - a kind of cardboardy fibreboard which basically had to be torn into pieces as it wouldnt come down in lumps - not asbestos though.

My garage ceiling looks to be asbestos though - surveyor never mentioned it but I'm pretty sure the corrugated roof is asbestos so I'll be getting it removed shortly as the garage is being knocked. How can I verify that it is asbestos (which is highly dangerous when particles get into the air tabydub)?

Alun

Back in my youth I worked during the summer holidays at a place in the UK that made the kind of suspended ceiling tiles you often see in office buildings dating from the 70's and 80's. They were about 12" square IIRC, white, and had a kind of stippled surface, and would certainly fit the "cardboardy fibreboard" description you gave. Now although they weren't anything like what you would traditionally call asbestos, i.e. corrugated asbestos used for roofing, I can categorically state that the mixture they were made from definitely did contain asbestos (along with lots of old recycled newspapers, pesticides, colourings etc.), so be careful!

patrickolee

Thanks guys. Having an asbestos guy come out tomorrow to take a look. Will update this thread when I hear back results.

Have uploaded pics anyway, even though we can't tell visually.

Cheers,
-patrick

Zynks

The attic one looks like asbestos to me. I have a house built in 1928 that had asbestos tile ceilings on the ground floor. At the time I found an Irish state agency site that explained in details the different levels of risk for asbestos, and for these tiles it said that they were safe unless they were drilled or sanded, but not if they were broken (note: this is my best recollection of what it said. Double checking is recommended). It still recommended plenty caution in handling, and the usual specialised disposal. If I find the link to the original site I will post it here.

ScottishDanny

Do you mind if I ask who is removing the asbestos for you? I have asbestos sheeting in my garage and I want rid of it.

patrickolee

Surveyor from OHSS (www.ohss.ie) came out today to take a look. He said it was not asbestos. Looks like my original surveyor wasn't the best. Rang the corpo too, but they don't keep records of the materials used in their houses.

Thanks to everyone who replied
-patrick

mad m

Well atleast it will put your mind at rest now and at no extra cost,well only the surveyors you got in now.How much they set you back if you dont mind me asking.

chabsey

patrickolee wrote:

Surveyor from OHSS (www.ohss.ie) came out today to take a look. He said it was not asbestos. Looks like my original surveyor wasn't the best. Rang the corpo too, but they don't keep records of the materials used in their houses.

Thanks to everyone who replied
-patrick

Bought a house in Marino recently, it is old and in need of renovation. Everyone said (inlcuding the estate agent) that the cielings upstairs were asbestos. We got a surveyor and he confirmed it was asbestos. We enquired about getting rewiring and were told the electrician would need a hepavac (or something similiar) to catch all dust when drilling the cielings.

The other day I got into the attic and looked, none of the cielings are asbestos! It's like everyone believed everyone else, and no one bothered check.

Nice to know now but annoying thinking of the expense we were about to go to.

Gordon Gekko

I got a corrugated asbestos roof removed recently. The asbestos removal guy told me his company were removing all the ceilings in a house in Marino over the following few days.

Moral - no one but an expert knows if its asbestos - how do you know just by looking chabsey that your ceilings aren't asbestos? For the sake of your health, get an expert opinion.

LeperKing

Gordon, any chance you could give the name of your asbestos removal guy, and were you happy with the service?

Thanks,
LK

chabsey

Gordon Gekko wrote:

I got a corrugated asbestos roof removed recently. The asbestos removal guy told me his company were removing all the ceilings in a house in Marino over the following few days.

Moral - no one but an expert knows if its asbestos - how do you know just by looking chabsey that your ceilings aren't asbestos? For the sake of your health, get an expert opinion.

Well our heating guy had looked previously and claimed there was no asbestos in our house (although it IS common in Marino). We thought our heating guy was deluded cause everyone else was saying cielings were asbestos.

I'm not an expert but the cielings in our place look like they've been cheaply replaced with a material that is shiny (when not painted) on one side and cardboardy on the other. I really doubt this is asbestos but am open to correction.


That said I'm fairly sure we DO have a corrugated asbestos roof outside on part of the extension. Do you have a rough idea of the cost of the removal of such a roof?

Gordon Gekko

Fair enough chabsey - maybe when you get your corrugated roof taken down you could get them to cast an eye over the ceilings? Better safe than sorry and all that!

LeperKing - I used Cape Industrial Services - got their details here . I found them grand - seemed to know their stuff.

chabsey, they charged around €500 to take it away and send it to Germany for disposal. For that they also give you a certificate which shows the authorities that you disposed of it legally. Bloody pricey I know, but worth it for peace of mind.

Alun

I'm not an expert but the cielings in our place look like they've been cheaply replaced with a material that is shiny (when not painted) on one side and cardboardy on the other. I really doubt this is asbestos but am open to correction.

It doesn't have to look like a piece of standard asbestos sheet to contain asbestos, that's the point. See my previous post in this thread.

patrickolee

Sorry MadM, for the slow reply, don't get on too often, too much wallpaper to strip! First surveyor for the general house survey cost around 400. The asbestos surveyor, did it for free, as long as I give a donation to charity. Very nice guy. He said, he generally did that for home owners, but if he had done it for a company it would have cost around 1000. Lucky first time buyer!

Dilbert75

Alun wrote:

It doesn't have to look like a piece of standard asbestos sheet to contain asbestos, that's the point. See my previous post in this thread.

That's a fact - in the survey we had conducted in the factory, there was one ceiling which I was 99% sure contained the stuff, turned out not to. Some insulation I was about 40% sure did, again didn't. Floor tiles covering half the area, never even considered them - they were the bogey. €10k to get the first floor area cleared of them, have as much to do again.

rubyd

Hi,
i have been quoted between 3 and 6 grand to remove asbestos from a house in marino - thats much more than quoted here. Have prices gone up or am i being ripped off?

chabsey

rubyd wrote:

Hi,
i have been quoted between 3 and 6 grand to remove asbestos from a house in marino - thats much more than quoted here. Have prices gone up or am i being ripped off?

That seems like loads. Are they going to replace the cielings or do you have to do that yourself?

By the way I found out I do have some asbestos cieling tiles (I live in Marino and just did my place up) and I rang a professional asbestos removing company. They told me that unless the cieling was damaged that it was no real risk and wouldn't really need replacing. Asbestos isn't dangerous until the dust form is inhaled, and then generally only over a long period of time.

I asked around quite a bit about this as I was concerned. A doctor confirmed the advice about it's danger (in our situation of intact cieling tiles) being minimal and as previously stated, a professional said it wouldn't be an issue for us.

Think about it, if you don't fancy spending 3-6K and can live with it for now, why not?

rubyd

Hi,
Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately i do have to get rid of it as i just can't live with the wooden batts holding ti up, the woodchip paper on it and the cobwebs it keeps attracting. I've checked loads of places now and all around the 3-5 grand so maybe theres less asbestos around so prices have gone up? Not impressed!
For people's info, a way to check if it's asbestos: get a thumb tack and try to stick it in to the panel - if it's asbestos you won't have a chance, if it's plasterboard, it'll go straight in!