Asbestos in Artex Coating
Remember when it was popular to apply artex decorative designs to the ceiling? Many of us still have them in our homes. Unfortunately some artex coatings contained asbestos. Many coatings up until the 80’s used asbestos in them.
However asbestos was not banned until late 1999 in the UK. So it is unknown if some plasterers still used it up until then.
Artex Containing Asbestos On Walls
Not only was artex used on ceilings but it was also applied to the walls too.It was popular in the 60’s through to the late 80’s or early 90’s and was known by many different names. They typically contained chrysotile sometimes referred to as snow or white asbestos.
The Hidden Asbestos Dangers
Asbestos can be hidden easily. For example a ceiling may have been “overboarded” where plasterboard is applied to the current ceiling. Artex was often painted over and in some cases sanded flat in later years. Remnants of asbestos can still remain.
Checking for Asbestos in Artex
It’s not easy to check for asbestos. There are usually no set rules that can guarantee certainty by visually checking. There is no way of knowing exactly what tradesmen and women may or may not have used in their work many years ago.
We can help by carrying out an asbestos survey. Luckily we can safely take samples and have these analysed at a UKAS accredited laboratory here in Northern Ireland.
