So it seems that the previous owners of our house chucked some asbestos sheets over the garden fence! Behind the garden fence is about 30 feet of wilderness/unclaimed land that's overgrown with some old metal bins and other stuff rusting away inside. There's also a family of foxes residing in there, but that's another matter. We can't see the asbestos but we know that it's there, it was discovered whilst repairing our fence. My wife is panicking about it but then she's quite a worrier. She's concerned that particles might be breathed in by our child. Would the asbestos be likely to cause any harm if undisturbed? If it's a hazard then we'll find a way to dispose of it but it won't be easy to remove and I don't know if the hassle/expense would be worth it. I'd be grateful for any advice. Thanks in advance.
Last edited by Rocket Man; 18th February 2017 at 12:46.
Call your local councillor now and I mean right now.
Do not even think of going anywhere near it as asbestos is safe until it is disturbed and then it is lethal. This lot will be loose and very dangerous.
If it is asbestos, then someone has committed a serious crime.
I think you're over reacting a little there Mick but as said, it's safe if undisturbed.
Get it checked out and take it from there.
There is often no such thing as unclaimed land, but first stop is the local council.
As already said, undisturbed and unbroken sheets are not in themselves a hazard, but ideally somebody should remove it.
I've managed the refurb of many old aviation hangars, many with asbestos sheet walls and roofs. The advice I've received from experts in these matters has been that often it's better that the sheeting would be less hazardous left in place rather than disturbed as part of replacement.
Last edited by Tooks; 18th February 2017 at 11:41.
Thanks, but I wonder who could check it out? It's hard to access and would require some digging around so not sure whether the council or even a private company would do it? I'm shocked that the previous owners could be so irresponsible - they were elderly and one of them is now deceased so I'm not going to chase them about it!Originally Posted by Dave+63
Dave
It already has been disturbed - that's the problem.
I think it's hard to assess the risk as I don't know what state it's in, however the sheets are uncovered/unwrapped and may be broken under all that garden waste etc. Exposure to the elements might corrode them as well.
Maybe if I reported it as fly tipping then the council would come and take a look?
Now that we know it's there we don't want to be irresponsible and just ignore it.
Last edited by Rocket Man; 18th February 2017 at 12:04.
This type of asbestos is not hasardous unless you start messing with it and exposing the fibres within the cement. Saying that, id imagine the local council would deal with it if you report it..
Yes, call the council on Monday and speak to somebody about removal of potentially hazardous dumped waste.
The council will likely send somebody out to look at it, but don't be surprised if they don't treat it as a priority.
If it is asbestos, they will likely want to find out who owns the land, as they may be at least part responsible for the cost of clearing it up.
Do you know where the sheeting came from? You say the previous owners, but any evidence of that?
Any more of the similar material left in/on your property?
As I said, don't spend all weekend stressing over it, it can be sorted but it will just be a case of identifying it properly and working out who pays, or even leaving it there if an expert deems it safe.
Since my dad died from mesothelioma, I don't think Mick's over-reacting at all.
Don't go hear it, don't disturb it, get specialist advice.
I found a load of asbestos sheeting under my decking, it was the roofing sheets from an old outbuilding that used to here. The previous owner admitted it and my solicitor couldnt do anything about it, even thought they admitted it.
Anyway, I managed to source a local company who came and took it away for £300. Now be careful who you use, as they may want to record this and it could be classed as contaminated land. One company I contacted wanted to remove a cubic meter of soil and record the works, removal and material with the land registry....I avoided that at all costs.
The guys who took mine away said that the risk was minimal as it was vert low content, all they used was gloves to load it in...which did surprise me.
That's awful, I'm very sorry for your loss.
I have already emailed the council to report it and will follow it up on Monday.
Thanks, that's helpful. Now I'm worried that maybe they also buried some of it in our garden as well. I guess that if it's buried then it may not cause any harm, although the land could be classed as contaminated?
We had to get rid of some when we replaced a car port some years back. I think they wet it, wrapped it in plastic and then they could take it to the local dump and dispose of it as it was wrapped up and they told the what it was.
From what I remember, wetting it makes the fibres more less likely to become airborne. I don't think they used any special tools other than gloves and masks. These were old roofing sheets.
I only discovered ours as I was jumping on a decking frame to see if it was strong...when the earth started moving it got me concerned. I had to move it as I was putting a new deck frame down. If its not on your land....i think you push for its removal by the council and leave it that...if you find more...get it removed by a contractor.
The problem with the £300 company is they may just have 'moved' the problem somewhere else.
The first activity is to get it positively identified.
Once that's done, that should dictate the next course of action. Some asbestos sheeting is very low content, and will only shed fibres if broken or perished. In some more extreme cases, you may need the whole full on haz-mat treatment.
I can't see how you can easily pay a contractor to remove something from somebody else's property either, which is the case for the OP.
As I say, I've dealt with this problem on sites before, and it can be surprisingly cheap to remove properly and legally.
I got the cert to say it would be disposed of in an professional manner.
Good stuff. There are a lot of cowboy hazardous waste removal companies out there, many of them used to bid to clear my sites!
For anybody worries about the possible impacts of asbestos fibres on health, I found this article helpful when I first became aware of asbestos issues on some of the sites I managed.
http://www.shponline.co.uk/one-fibre...d-risk-part-1/
That's not to trivialise the potential risks, but it does help with perception versus facts.
Whilst that is very sad, I'm not trivialising the potential risks that asbestos can pose.
I'm just saying that there's no need to panic; handled correctly the risks can be minimised. The first thing to do is nothing, call in the experts. It's relatively safe where it is for the moment as long as no one panics and does something stupid!
My wife wanted me to climb in there with a pair of gloves this morning and remove it myself!
I told her to calm down dear...
When I had my bathroom refurbished they removed the original toilet waste pipe which was made of asbestos - the building company had to get a certified contractor in (they showed me the paperwork) and it cost something like £200
My garage roof is made of corrugated asbestos. I had it looked at by a specialist and he commented that it was a good solid roof (and waterproof) so no problem leaving it as is - just don't drill any holes in it or otherwise interfere with its structure. I was very relieved to hear this as considering the waste pipe bill I dread to think how much it would have cost to have this removed and disposed of - its a long garage, nearly double in length to the usual layout.
Thank you, this is helpful and reassuring.
I have a little experience through both my hobby and work in a previous career.
Corrugated sheet asbestos is safe if left alone and not drilled or broken. The fibres are bound in the structure.
Asbestos wool used in insulation and lagging is a totally different matter and is dangerous. It is normally wrapped in these applications but if the wrapping is broken it poses a real hazard.
Hence the treatment and safe disposal of Asbestos is different depending on the form that you find.
Thank you for this information! There appears to be just a single corrugated sheet of asbestos. Hopefully it will be easy to remove and dispose of.
Confused.com is me.
Your initial post says "some asbestos sheets", so is it a sheet or is it some sheets ?
I think either way, this is not nuclear waste so as has been said, just call your Council.
We've had it removed twice. The corrugated sheet garage roof type are classed as lower risk if undisturbed and can be removed easily - I think we probably paid a couple of hundred quid.
The second time it had been used as insulation around the boiler and that was the whole nine yards. A tunnel out of the house and people in full protective clothing (think the scene in ET).
Last edited by 5avvy; 18th February 2017 at 20:58.
One sheet is clearly visible but as the whole area is overgrown and dumped on I suspect there are more that are covered up. Won't know for sure until we get in there, which is going to be no mean feat.
Last edited by Rocket Man; 18th February 2017 at 18:08.
We inherited a significant amount of asbestos sheets when we bought our current house. The ones on the old turkey sheds were removed at about £400 per skip load (I think they tip them in the same place but there's a tax to pay). We still have them on a lean-to out house and on my shed roof (166 feet by 40 feet). I'm not overly concerned: they're still doing the job they were designed for and should be OK if not disturbed. In the last few years we've removed a lot of this from industrial buildings which we use in our businesses, and still have quite a bit more which we are managing.
My point is this — don't panic, asbestos is all around us and is mostly not a problem if properly managed.
As said, no risk at all if left alone. You could collect the sheets yourself, wrap them in strong plastic and take them to your local tip (providing they have an asbestos skip). You honestly don't need to worry about asbestos cement products; its the more fibrous materials that are the problem.
+1, that's exactly what I`ve been taught in the past. When I started work in the chemical industry in the mid-70s we used hard asbestos mats in the labs and they were fine, that's the same form as used for corrugated roofs and it doesn`t shed fibres unless it's drilled or sawn. It's the soft flaky stuff that's dangerous and even then it's only a hazard when disturbed.
Rules and regulations have to be followed when disposing of any asbestos, and I certainly wouldn`t advocate getting involved myself with it, it doesn`t sound like it's posing any immediate hazard. Probably best to talk to the local council about it.
Paul
This isn't anything to panic about unless you're jumping up and down on it and sniffing the broken joints. As already stated get a registered asbestos contractor to remove it. Doing a lot of work at the University Of Sheffield gets you lots of experience workings round the stuff hence the necessity for an Asbetos Awareness certificate and to be 'face fitted' to work in the areas affected.
Gentlemen, thank you all for your sound advice. It's really helpful to hear from those who have knowledge and experience in this matter.
I've been round the back to further assess the problem and there are clearly several sheetsof asbestos amidst all the garden waste, undergrowth and rubbish. Unfortunately some of them are broken up which makes them more dangerous. The council have been informed so let's see what they can do about it. The resident foxes seemed very comfortable!
In a twist to the story I've discovered that the land is owned by two gents currently living outside London (where I am). This is a bit of a mystery because they cannot access the land as it's bordered by other properties. It was bought in 2001 and apparently unused since. It's the size of a small garden and people appear to have been dumping waste on it over the years. Now why would anyone own a plot of land that can't be accessed or used? I am starting to wonder if there might be more that just asbestos buried there?!
Last edited by Rocket Man; 20th February 2017 at 20:12.
To use as an asbestos dump after darkness, clearly !
If they got the land cheap, there's always the possibility of turning a profit at a later date.
When my neighbours had their garage roof replaced the council provided plastic wrapping. The roofers then removed the corrugated roof just wearing gloves as protection and put it in the plastic wrap. The council then picked it up. Job done. I did ask the roofers about it and they were pretty blasé tbh having dealt with it for donkeys years.
If you're going to do anything yourself choose a damp day but, TBH lot of scaremongering here but it's not particularly dangerous.
Keep it wet, do not saw it, drill it or break it - double bag it and the council should take it no problem.
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
Guys there's probably less than 10% of asbestos in these roofing sheets. As said above this isn't the "asbestos" to worry about. It's the insulation type you need to worry about. Ive just took an asbestos cement roof off of a garage and wrapped it in plastic and took it to my local dump. There isn't any charge for this. I'd just jump over your fence, wrap it in plastic sheeting and run it up the dump. Job done.
Last edited by Yeti; 20th February 2017 at 21:20.
Yep - fairly low hazard.
(My background is Hazmat).
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
Does falling through the bloody stuff count?
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
The landing is more likely to kill you!Does falling through the bloody stuff count?
R
I was lucky, the garage floor broke my fall.
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
Depends whether you suffered any asbestos suppository ingestion Ralphy or did you land on your feet ?Does falling through the bloody stuff count?
R
Feet, arse and left elbow. I was just lying there thanking my lucky stars that nothing felt broken when the cable reel followed me down and landed on my head. :-(Depends whether you suffered any asbestos suppository ingestion Ralphy or did you land on your feet ?
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
You are Gerard Hoffnung & I claim my five pounds
https://youtu.be/zZUJLO6lMhI
You are Rod Hull and I claim my £5
That looks pretty thin, with small corrugations. Don't see it that often. Years of slightly acidic rain, and chemicals produced by the moss have also probably dissolved some of the cement matrix making it fragile.Does falling through the bloody stuff count?
R
Sorry but I did PMSL !!! :-)Does falling through the bloody stuff count?
R
Ralphy, could've been far worse......you might've landed on one of your motors and done some serious damage to the car!
A bruised arse and grazed elbow heals up, damaged cars don`t heal up in my experience.
Paul
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
