Hi All,
I am looking for purchasing my first property.
The suburb, which I like has lots of Old houses roughly built before 1960.
Recently one of my mate told that, old houses are having Asbestos and it's dangerous to live in those houses.
I did some Google about Asbestos, but still confused if it's ok to buy house with some traces of Asbestos.
Could you please provide your thoughts.
Thanks in advance
Cheers
Re:
"It's only dangerous if you bust it into fibres (etc.) …"
For your 1st house, there is simply no good reason to even think about buying one that contains asbestos. With a reasonable bit of 'due diligence' you will be able to buy one that does not, for similar money. If you do buy one that does contain asbestos, this will play on your mind forever after, hinder any renovation plans you have, render simple decisions like drilling a hole in a wall for a hook or picture-hanger a major dilemma, possibly cause you to fear for the wellbeing of any children you may be planning to raise in the house, possibly affect your resale value substantially if you try to off-load the 'asbestos house' after new 'disclosure regs' are passed, ETC.
For your first house, my emphatic advice is to ensure that it does not contain asbestos. It is relatively easy (although not entirely cheap) to ensure this in every state in Australia, but the cost of the required pre-purchase inspection and peace of mind ever-after will be well worth it.
Thanks for the details
Have a question about auctions.
Does the vendor provide building inspection reports to the buyers, upfront ? Is it free or do we need pay for the inspection report?
It's fine. Take a read of this: https://www1.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/ohp-enhealth-asbestos-may2012.htm/$File/asbestos-feb13.pdf
Thanks đź‘Ť
That’s half the houses in Sydney
And most of the houses in older suburbs!
As long as it's not loose filled asbestos (in the roof as insulation) then it should be fine.
Check condition of eaves and walls of wet areas for any damage. If you are planning on renovations then you need to pay for an assessment and professional removal of asbestos sheeting
My friend showed an inspection report which states like below :
Likely asbestos linings – eaves.
External eave linings are likely the asbestos
What does this mean? How bad is this ?
Nothing to worry about. Just don’t go cutting holes in the eaves. Don’t pressure clean the eaves. If it cracks or anything you can paint it to seal the surface.
Asbestos in fibreboard isn’t dangerous unless you grind/cut pressure blast it in some way to create dust.
Asbestos in fibreboard is dangerous if the fibreboard has cracked or started to come apart or if it is painted and the paint is peeling of flaking off as this is when the fibers start to be released.
Question, if you bump into the wall, would that disturb the asbestos dust? Or is it only a risk if you cut it?
Good point, kids would definitely do that
A big bump would disturb it a little, but the dust is mostly in a sealed cavity - the inside of the walls where a clout has nailed fibro to a timber frame, or the ceiling on top of the fibro eaves.
Over 60 years, the dust mostly settles and with dust and moisture forms a hard powder.
As long as the maintenance has been kept up (painting any flaky paint), fibro should be OK.
It is the housing commision ones that have had walls kicked in multiple times that I would avoid !
It is pretty strong sheeting. IMHO stronger than gyprock. I would only worry about breaking it up, drilling it, or cutting it. I would not be worried at all about bumps. It probably has 10-20 coats of paint on it as well.
What suburb or area?
Hills District
It's not great, but just work with it asbestos you can.
Asbestos is not in all houses built before 1980, but in allot of them. When you get a building inspection ask them to check for asbestos, which may cost more. If the house has fibro sheeting anywhere and it was built before 1980 then I would 100% assume it is asbestos and if the paint is flaking or it has been drilled or is broken then I would be vary wary about buying the house.Besides fibro sheeting, asbestos was also used in the cement in some houses and in bathrooms and kitchens in cement and/or insulation.
If the house has roof insulation and it is NOT glass fibre and it's old then it could be suspect and if the house is in Canberra RUN.
Saying all of the above asbestos is safe to use or live with so long as it is NOT disturbed and if it is then make sure you have the appropriate toe to head overalls and breathing equipment on. Never cut/break/scrape anything that could be asbestos and never put it in normal garbage as it needs to be disposed of correctly.
Thanks for the details.
My friend showed an inspection report which states like below :
Likely asbestos linings – eaves.
External eave linings are likely the asbestos
What does this mean? How bad is this ?
This means that you have asbestos fibro sheeting in the house. So far (there will be more IMHO) it has been seen in the areas indicated. Based on this assume that the house has asbestos in other areas and until tested you will not know, most probably anywhere you see any sheeting and potentially in some areas of the bathroom and kitchen.
If the areas indicated are cracked or flaking or broken then asbestos fibers may be present, which is NOT good.
If the areas are painted and the paint is okay then the only issue will be if you need to later work in the roof cavity for any reason as the top of the eves will not be painted and therefore appropriate equipment will be needed for anyone working in the roof cavity until the eaves are either replaced or checked to see if they are not flaking etc.
Overall if the eaves look okay then you should be okay, but you should get a proper asbestos inspection done to see if the eaves are asbestos and if/where else it is.
I had a 1948 house that had asbestos and i assumed it had asbestos sheeting where ever sheeting was and also in the kitchen and bathroom. Unless you disturb it or it starts to break up or flake there is no issue with it. The biggest issue is when the paint started to peel as you cannot sand it or scrap it, so you can only paint over it and hope it looks okay and stops the peeling.
Thank you so much for the details
Every old house has asbestos
Right, That's why I am concerned, got small kids
1000% agree. Unfortunately asbestos will take 20+ (normally 30 to 40 years) to show up with deteriorated lung functionality and then cancer if you get it.
If you have small kids then make sure you IMHO remove all fibro they can break by accident when the are little. For example watch out for cricket or soccer balls breaking things, bikes running into walls or other toys hitting walls (walls===fibro).
Have a question about auctions.
Does the vendor provide building inspection reports to the buyers, upfront ? Is it free or do we need pay for the inspection report?
If your concerned for your kids health long term, keep looking elsewhere…. why risk it?
Other places are either very far from city or very expensive or very tiny piece of land
@Flynny: or your kids get sick
The hills arent exactly close to the city - unless you mean Paramatta.
Re:
'Every old house has asbestos'
This is simply utter BS. Why would you spout such crap?
This is my 3rd property I've lived In with asbestos, 13 years later I'm still alive and well.. it's fine just don't go doing Reno's as others have said without getting in the asbestos guys first
13 years is not long enough, if you get it ealry then may bee 20years, but normally about 40 to 50 years. For more details on how long check out:
https://www.asbestosdiseases.org.au/asbestos-info/asbestos-c…
1000% agree dust is the killer and you may not see it.
I have been okay after 45 years, but I always had a mask when I was younger and working with asbestos (drum break linings from the 1970 & 1980's).
Do you ever get any check ups?
In the late 90's I lived in a house as a teen made completely from asbestos sheets and we use to break the stuff all the time and chuck it at each other like ninja stars.
I've also completed a few reno's in the early 2000's and was probably exposed to a fair amount of asbestos dust. One time I scraped and chiselled a heap of glued down lino and sanded the black glue from the wooden floors and finding out afterwards that it was possible it contained asbestos. Geez, even today I was removing a bit of framing and a triangle of asbestos broke off by accident and just missed my head. If it doesn't get me through lung disease I think it's going to try and get me another way! lol
No lung related symptoms yet? I imagine given the time it takes to manifest, many people would attribute symptoms to just getting old and losing fitness.
@kiitos: Not that I know of. My cardio fitness isn't as good compared to how it used to be since I stopped martial arts a few years ago and only do weight training these days so I've attributed it to that and getting old as you suggested.
I've been meaning to get a skin check up for a while now so I'll talk to the doctor about this too.
Be sure to check with insurance too. You don't want a headache when you want to claim something not related to asbestos.
So does that means, I need to get Asbestos inspection and then provide the details to insurance company?
NO. Do NOT inform the insurance company, unless they specifically ask or it is the PDS that you need to inform them. If you let them know they may decline to insure you or put the insurance price up.
If you let them know they may decline to insure you or put the insurance price up.
….or dont let them know and you have to make a claim, they may not pay up at all as you didn't disclose the asbestos.
You'd be getting a building inspection prior to purchase, that would disclose to you the asbestos so you cant say you didnt know.
Read the insurance policy itself and if it requires that you disclose the presence of asbestos, then disclose it. Failure to disclose anything that is required may invalidate your policy at time of claim.There is a legal obligation to disclose in section 21 of the Insurance Contracts Act (http://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/ica198…)
It's a good idea to read the policy generally, particularly if buying an older house and seeing what may or may not be covered, and never assume that because you have paid your premium you are covered for anything and everything, you are covered for what is in the insurance contract and outlined in the policy document.
Be aware in Australia it is common knowledge that most houses built before 1980 have asbestos somewhere, so this will come under the following section and unless you are required to disclose it specifically then you do not have to:
" (2) The duty of disclosure does not require the disclosure of a matter:
(b) that is of common knowledge;
"
@AndyC1: Agreed - As long as your insurer knows, and understands, at time of giving cover that your house was built before 1980 which is why it may be worth mentioning up front so there is no comeback.
In addition to what other have said, do some of your own research. Look at some reputable sites, like government safety and health sites. From there you will inform yourself and be able t make some more of your own decisions. Everyone has a different risk aversion, and what I think is fine might not be for you.
I worked in a place that was quite risk averse when it comes to asbestos, my take was that they overdid it in quite a few instances. I believe this was largely due to risk to reputation rather than absolute safety. Eg they completely shut down outdoor sites and engaged hygienists where a few fragments were found on the ground when a quick emu parade would have sorted it as the asbestos had been exposed for a long time prior to it being found
https://www.asbestossafety.gov.au/about-asbestos/about-asbes…
Agree, thanks for the inputs
it is ok if you arent planning on renovating…
Right, but may be after few years I may need to renovate
I have had several homes with asbestos-fibro eves, laundry and bathroom walls, and compressed asbestos-fibro in the floors of the kitchen, bathroom and laundry.
If that is the extent of it, then I wouldn't let it turn me off buying.
Being aware of this asbestos when doing anything to those parts, and cautioning any tradies, was not all that difficult. PLEASE tell tradies.
Of course I would have preferred not to have had it, but I was advised that most properties built before about 1974 would have it.
I would not buy a property though if it had 'loose fill' asbestos. There are other loose fill materials that may be problematic too.
. In QLD, not sure about other states you can remove up to 10m2 yourself without a certificate. There is a good guide here for small jobs: https://www.asbestos.qld.gov.au/sites/default/files/asbestos…
10m2 is a huge area IMHO. Still safer to get someone to remove asbestos.
Have a question about auctions.
Does the vendor provide building inspection reports to the buyers, upfront ? Is it free or do we need pay for the inspection report?
Depends on which state you are in.
I am only aware of the ACT that requires an inspection report when selling that the vendor is responsible for when selling and the ACT houses have Mr Fluffy asbestos roof filling in some of them and they are still popping up from time to time.
In other states if you want an inspection report then you have to pay and organise it. The cheap way to do it is to see if you can be there when the inspection occurs and therefore no physical report will be needed and as such cuts the cost of the inspection, BUT you need to take notes and on the flip side can be shown the issues and ask questions. I did this and it was very good as the inspector said how I could fix the issue or how he found the issue.
Great, thank you so much. I m in NSW.
So all the buyers who are interested in that property, needs to get inspection done before auction..
It means $600 would be wasted if they don't win in auction as only one person would win …
Yep, and multiply that by the number of houses you like enough to try and win at auction, it adds up all too quickly. I think we paid for 3 or 4 inspections before finally winning an auction.
@kiitos: It's unfair, it would have been better if vendor provides the inspection report upfront and whoever wins the bid, they can take that amount from the winner.. it may also help vendor to attract more bidders to the auction
@Flynny: I agree. I did go to one open house and that was the case. The vendor provided an inspection report, and if the successful bidder had used that report, then they were to pay for it. A great idea.
It's only dangerous if you bust it into fibres.
Intact, it's okay.
There isn't an issue living in a house with asbestos, but it is something to consider if you want to renovate, as you will need to pay more for specialist disposal.