Where Can I Find Asbestos?
There are a few places you can find asbestos in a building; Cement, coatings, floor tiles, insulating boards, lagging and loose. Buildings constructed before 1999 will most likely contain at least one form of asbestos that may have been too expensive/ difficult to remove.
Cement containing asbestos can come in the form of roofing, cladding and guttering. The most common is corrugated cement roofing often found on farm buildings, warehouses and some sheds. This would be considered the safest form of asbestos as it is held tightly within the concrete and can only be released by being sawed or drilled.
Many walls and ceilings used to be coated in asbestos in either a sprayed or textured form, this could exist in lofts, around beams and living spaces. Textured coatings are generally quite stable but sprayed coatings have the highest asbestos content so even a minor disturbance could release huge quantities of the material into the air.
Tiles made of asbestos were often used in insulating floor surfaces underneath laminate flooring or carpets. Similar forms of the material were used in fire blankets and oven gloves. Although generally quite safe to work with it is still best to consult a specialist or guidelines.
Fireproofing with asbestos insulating board (AIB) was quite common and this often existed in partition walls, fire doors, lift shafts and roof lining. Large quantities of this can be found in many buildings from the 50s-90s and it is considered very dangerous to work with. It should be handled by a fully licensed contractor.
Lagging and loose fill asbestos are considered the most dangerous forms of the material and exist in cavities and open spaces and wrapped around pipework or boilers. Both forms can easily release the material into the air and should not be handled by anyone but a professional.
Want advice on asbestos in buildings then visit the ‘whats-my-claim-worth’ site to find out if you canmake a claim for asbestos exposure.