Thanks to issuing a full building survey before we bought the house, we knew there was asbestos covering the ceilings in every room.
For those of you who don’t already know, asbestos was a building material used widely between the 50s-90s, as it was cheap, hardwearing and easy to install. Unfortunately and unbeknown to builders back then, asbestos fibres can imbed in the lungs and cause horrible diseases, which eventually kill the person who breathed them in.
Nasty stuff and as a result the material was banned in 1999. Now the removing of asbestos has to be carefully handled by professionals and disposed of under license.
Despite all the above, it’s not always necessary to remove asbestos as it’s not actually harmful if you don’t disturb it. It only becomes a risk if the board breaks and the fibres are released. Of course, with a planned loft conversion, installation of spotlights etc, disturbing the asbestos was inevitable. It had to go.
Because of the licensing effecting the disposal and the risk to those removing it, there is a significant cost involved, but it was just one of those things we couldn’t compromise on. We paid a reputable local firm just over £5k, and they were able to remove all the asbestos and complete an air quality test within a week. Job done.