Ask an expert

Get free help from our community of tradespeople

Artex Asbestos risk in 1950s house?

Posted by M W, on Mon 14 Aug 2017 03:21pm

Hi. My GF and I have just bought our first home, a 1950s former council house. We began preparing the property for redecoration last week e.g. stripping walls and ceilings before today an electrician mentioned the risk of asbestos in artex. We had a full survey of the property carried out before purchasing and the surveyor didn't specifically mention this was a problem (although he isn't ARCA trained). I am now somewhat concerned. The ceilings I have stripped already were papered and looked like they had been painted over. The others look like they are painted straight onto the ceiling. Is there a cheap way to tell if they contain asbestos or not? Cheers

David Wilson

Fri 18 Aug 2017 12:46pm

If any of the houses still belong to the council they will be able to tell you if the contain any asbestos Sometimes asbestos cement boards were used for ceilings if you look under the floor boards upstairs you can see if this is the case Regards David

Was this helpful?

Adam Raye

Wed 16 Aug 2017 03:53pm

A 1950's house will most likely contain asbestos in artex, it is not dangerous unless disturbed. There's also very little fibre release from it as it's cement bonded material and classed as very low risk.

Was this helpful?

What would you like to do now?

Find more questions Create my Job

Homeowner stories

Homeowner stories - Nick

Nick shares his story of finding local tradespeople in his new area.