Likelihood of asbestos in internal cement plaster?

[jsmac]

Hello PPUK,

We have a room that will eventually be a kitchen that has been plastered in a very thick coat of cement plaster. It could be from as early as the 1930s/40s judging from the remedial Belfast sink that was installed on top of the render. It could be newer - maybe 1960s - but it really is impossible to be certain.

The render is very hard, very thick and cracked in places so the whole room would benefit with it being removed and replaced with a softer lime plaster. This is definitely the plan for the external wall at a minimum and once I get started I'm hoping that it will just come away in large(ish) pieces.

However, I am hesitating about getting the hammer and bolster out though because of the potential risk of asbestos being in the plaster. Does anyone have any experience of finding nefarious fibres lurking in old cement plaster/render? Or am I just being overly cautious/paranoid?

 

[phillc]

Almost zeo - no reason to add asbestos to cement plaster. Any fibres you can see are not asbestos fibres. They need a microscope.

If you are nervous, you can get send-off-a-sample asbestos tests from Amazon for about £30.

In the about 0% chance there is asbestos in there it will be cement bound so low hazard. Damp down an area or smother it in shaving foam, squirty cream, ... and chip a bit off. You only need a small bit (cubic centimetre is ample).

Put in the envelope, post it off. Reply by email - proceed based on results.

Of course, the test results only show the bit you sent off had no asbestos in. If you're paranoid, do multiple samples.

 

[larry]

If it were my wall I would happily hack that off wearing a dust mask and wouldn't even have considered the possibility of Asbestos being in there. Maybe I'm missing something and ultimately you've got to make your own decisions given your risk tolerance, because I might always be wrong, but if my 'potential asbestos alam' was set to detect this, I'd have spent thousands on test kits by now. Of course you understand that the only only way to know for sure is to test.