Hello.
Last evening as I was trying to rip up the old blistered paint, I have found this under the paint.
Initially it looked to be a plaster board with horsehair but I have some doubts as the house was built in 1960. What are your thoughts? Should I get the material tested for asbestos?
Image in the link:
https://ibb.co/Kq9qbb1
Should I get the material tested for asbestos?
It's recommended
https://www.asbestossafety.gov.au/identification-and-testing…
if you have serious concerns
https://www.jimsbuildinginspections.com.au/building-inspecti…
it was about $150-160 when i got it done. really straight forward & very professional
nice to have peace of mind as not only did he test the specific area (laundry) but also gave me a green light on externals as well so all future renos/painting etc ive got no worries (1988 build)
I hope for your sake it isn't Asbestos. The cost to remove is pricy.
I am renovating a house that was built in 1955 which had asbestos however, it looked very different to your picture. The asbestos I had looked like a honeycomb or golf ball surface on one side and a flat surface on the other.
Mums house which was built in the 80's has horsehair plaster similar to your picture BUT, also has the honeycomb / golf ball in the wet areas behind tiles.
Best to get this checked out and not take any risks. Try a Google search for Horsehair plaster v's asbestos and see what pops up.
Picture of honeycomb / golf ball asbestos that I am referring to…..
https://www.google.com.au/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fpbs.tw…
i have done some extensive googling last night but cannot come to a definite conclusion. all posts generally end up with "best to get it tested to be sure"…
Looks like asbestos to me - were you wearing a mask?
I's not asbestos. that looks completely different.
looks like a repair using a fibrous plaster with sisal, or jute as the binder, then a thin skim of gypsum plaster over the top. An old way of repairs, but was still done..
I have tentatively booked an asbestos inspector for next saturday. Do you believe it is it worth checking?
it's not asbestos, so personally I would carry on with the renovations. However, as you feel concerned, it may give you peace of mind to pay for a test.
It ain't asbestos
ok, what is the basis of the response if you dont mind me asking?
Asbestos is very fine and fibrous…Google some images.
I could be way off, but to me that looks almost like roots, not horse hair or asbestos…looks too thick?
my thoughts too..but i just cant be too sure with old building materials.
I think Mr Kimble may be onto something here. it does look like root invasion. OP is this an external wall?
It's still not asbestos.
Horsehair plaster…was used up to the late 60s. My parents house built in 1964 is full of it, it’s fine.
I wouldn’t be worried about that plaster, but a house of that vintage could contain asbestos elsewhere, eg if the original sheets in the laundry, bathroom are still there they might be old fibro
Did you have to remove any of that at the parents?
@jhl2456: The horsehair plaster, it's still there as its in good nick. The fibro sheeting - yeah they got rid of that in the late 70s. The laundry used to be an external and a room was built around it to enclose the back of the house turning it into an internal room.
Was it removed safely? Not at all, I can remember the builders smashing it up and pulling it down. Typical for that time I'm afraid.
The process in dealing with ACM is to treat everything that isn't plastic or timber as ACM until it can be identified by a competent person.
It looks like horsehair plaster.
Can you take another photo with a different light. Use a cooler colour.
yes agreed. people generally conclude these arent ACM from different forums.
Looks like horsehair to me. I did renos on my house and came across the same. I also did a building inspection regardless, even though I was confident there wasn't any asbestos, for the peace of mind. Suggest you do the same.
i assume yours contained no asbestos following the inspection?
No asbestos, except for the external eaves and old gas heater flue (as expected).
Are you certain house is a 1981 build?
That’s what I was going to say, house would be much older, show us a photo of the front of the house.
Not asbestos by the way.
apologies, typo there. This is a 1960 house.
That makes a huge difference. Definitely no asbestos and all of your house looks like that. Have fun with it.
@jhl2456: I'm no asbestos expert but I was under the impression it was mainly external cladding and roofing sheets during that era.
The paint is probably only 1% lead but be mindful of that as well while you're at it.
It doesn't look like asbestos but for peace of mind you should get it checked by a hygenist / test lab. There are dozens in Melbourne.
Once you know what it is you can work out a plan of management which doesn't necessarily mean removal. The firm I work for has dozens of asbestos affected sites and if we removed it all it would cost tax payers 5-10 years of our annual maintenance budget.
I've had one friend die of renovation related asbestos related diseases which we believe occurred from lifting asbestos vinyl floor tiles or gidgee bricks.
Also my sister suffers chronic illness from chemical use while renovating houses (nobody had a clue in the 70s/80s/90s).
The firm I work for has dozens of asbestos affected sites and if we removed it all it would cost tax payers 5-10 years of our annual maintenance budget.
You are right. If they remain undisturbed / touched it is fine.
Also my sister suffers chronic illness from chemical use while renovating houses (nobody had a clue in the 70s/80s/90s).
You would ask questions of what else there is lurking around that we don't know about even today. Always seems to be a new realisation 20 years down the track something we thought was safe isn't. Not being an alarmist but seems like a cycle.
they say silica dust is the next big thing.
and mineral wool insulation (Rockwool)
The stuff from fake stone kitchen tops?
Any inorganic particle small enough to get into the lungs is bad for you but can be easily dealt with if you actually give a damn about workers. Regardless of what dust is made of don't breathe it, wet down the surface or use dust extraction and wear a mask.
We do a lot of administrative controls (labels, site and central registers) but also encapsulation on sites that are low risk (false walls, painting with bonding material, etc).
It has backfired on us a few times. There were a group of unused 1950s workers cottages that I kept recommended every year from 2008-2015 we remove the asbestos sheet outer fabric. Management decided the control was to put a cyclone fence around them. Then the bush fires came, engulfed the houses and our easy to remove non-friable asbestos exploded everywhere and became friable. Remediation bill increased x 10.
In the past 4 years with new "owners" we've started spending $1m-$2m year in removal due to some lessons learned about false economy.
There are hazards everywhere. Some of our assets are 140 years old and we deal with dangerous building materials and practices, hazardous dump sites, etc. You can usually dodge bullets if you are a weekend amateur but not when you do it daily.
Goes to show we can't even deal with short term hazardous waste and people keep talking about nuclear power like the waste isn't hazardous.
@netjock: Indeed.
I worked on the peripherals of the nuclear industry (did my apprenticeship at AAEC 1979-1983) and some of the practices I saw were "interesting".
If it's a 1960 house it will have asbestos somewhere in the house, so I would get a check. The patch is not asbestos, but the original cement around the patch may contain asbestos as it was used in some cements in the past. Asbestos can be in allot of areas that are not obvious in old houses.
When doing any reno's on a house you have not checked or was built before 1990 to be safe IMHO always wear a proper respirator mask like https://www.bunnings.com.au/protector-respirator-kit_p582236… & filters and a coverall like https://www.bunnings.com.au/unisafe-dupont-proshield-large-c… and minimise the dust as the dust is what causes problems in you lungs.
Besides asbestos the paint will probably be lead based if it's from before 1980.
Asbestos is not something to take lightly…
Good chance it isnt, but having watched someone die from asbestos poisoning wouldnt wish that on anyone.
I have looked into this extensively.
My personal opinions are:
It's impossible to tell by appearance. At all. Too many asbestos containing products present with "atypical" looks.
It's perhaps not as bad as the media makes it out to be. Brake pads used to contain asbestos. The whole industrialised world would have been breathing it in and clearly most 80/90yo don't currently have asbestosis. It is very likely dose related.
A few small objects/pieces isn't too costly to remove using an accredited remover. A couple/few hundred. "Testing" it, can be expensive.
If left undisturbed, it's not an issue. So you may be ok to just patch it up.
All unqualified advice of course. Take it all with a pinch of salt.
Yes most certainly it is asbestos.
If you can re-seal with paint and forget for the next generation to worry about… or contact your local council for advice
Is there a reason for being so certain?
You can legally remove up to 10 Sqm yourself, just do one of the free online courses first. You will then have all the information. You don't use any power tools on it.
Image?