Where Can I Find Asbestos?
Asbestos can exist in a variety of forms in a building; cement, coatings, floor tiles, insulating, lagging and loose. Many buildings build before 1999 will contain at least one form of asbestos as it was often too expensive or too difficult to extract.
Asbestos filled cement can often be found in the form of guttering, wall cladding and roofing. It is most commonly used for corrugated cement roofing which can be found on old farm buildings, warehouses and on some private sheds and garages.
Textured and sprayed asbestos was used to cover many internal walls and ceilings in lofts and often living spaces but while the textured coating is generally considered quite safe the sprayed coating is very unstable and can release large quantities of toxins into the air if disturbed.
Asbestos tiles were commonly used in insulating floor surfaces underneath carpet or laminate flooring. Sometimes similar density asbestos was used in fireproof blankets and even oven mitts. Although not as dangerous as other forms of asbestos it is still advised to use caution and consult guidelines before working with it.
Asbestos insulating board (AIB) was quite commonly used in partition walls, lift shafts, roof linings and fire doors. Large quantities of this can still be found in many buildings built from the 1950s onwards and it is considered very dangerous to work with and only handled by a full licensed contractor.
Many cavities, pipes and boilers are filled and coated with loose fill and lagging asbestos. These are both considered very hazardous and should not be worked with or exposed to anyone other than a trained contractor. Exposure to any of the toxic fibres released can cause damaging respiratory problems and eventually cause a form of cancer known as Mesothelioma.
Want to find out more about , then visit the ‘whats-my-claim-worth’ site for advice on for asbestos exposure.