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Ask The Trades › DIY Forum › Building Questions › Asbestos ceiling with upstairs bedroom

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Asbestos ceiling with upstairs bedroom (Read 2773 times)

stuenguk

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Asbestos ceiling with upstairs bedroom
Dec 31^st, 2020, 9:56am

I just joined the site so apologise if this is the wrong area or way to do things, but I just really need some advice.

I have just bought a bungalow with one upstairs bedroom above the lounge. I had the artex ceiling in the lounge tested and it contains chrysotile. I know you can skim over them to seal them. However the ceiling has had 2 layers of artex. I assume the second is to mask cracks in the first coating. However the second coating is loosening from the first is a few places and also cracking making the skimming option not viable.

I have had 2 solutions suggested and wanted to know which is the best one. The room is 4.75m * 3.38m and all walls are solid load baring walls.

1. Remove the existing coving, find the ceiling joists and then screw new plaster board through the existing ceiling into the ceiling joists. Then re-plaster and cove. My concern here is with the ceiling already having 2 artex coats and also supporting the upstairs bedroom will this place too much weight on the joists and possibly cause future problems?

2. The second option is the most costly and that is to completely remove the existing artexed ceiling and have a new ceiling installed directly onto the ceiling joists.

I know he second option is by far the best, but costs a fortune and will also be very messy. I just really wanted to ask if the first option was viable or am I just asking for future problems.

Just to give a bit more background. I only moved into the bungalow 3 weeks ago. However from my understanding the loft conversion was professionally done just after the bungalow was built in the 1960. So the lounge ceiling has been supporting the upstairs bedroom for ages. Meaning its not a recent conversion that hasn't stood to test of time.

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woodsmith

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Re: Asbestos ceiling with upstairs bedroom
Reply #1 - Jan 1^st, 2021, 9:01am

Although plasterboard is relatively heavy, when the weight is spread over the entire ceiling is doesn’t add a lot of loading to the joists, so I would imagine you would be ok to board over and skim. If you have any doubts about the strength of the ceiling you could get a structural engineer to call round and they would be able to clarify exactly what you can do safely.

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Natedog

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Re: Asbestos ceiling with upstairs bedroom
Reply #2 - Jan 1^st, 2021, 8:53pm

Whilst I know it is more expensive and more hassle, I would be tempted to just bite the bullet and have it removed. You known it's done then, and can't come back to bite you on the bum in the future

Assuming that is, you're not planning to move again in the foreseeable future. If you're planning to flip the bungalow on before too long, just board over it 😁

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londonman Trade Member Offline I love YaBB 1G - SP1! Posts: 1697 Total Thanks: 13 For This Post: 0 Malvern United Kingdom Trade: Cabinet Maker	Re: Asbestos ceiling with upstairs bedroom Reply #3 - Jan 5^th, 2021, 10:00pm Is chrysotile the dangerous type of asbestos ? If so, the last thing he wants to do is remove it.
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thescruff Global Moderator Trade Member Author Offline Who said plumbing was easy. Posts: 6037 Total Thanks: 147 For This Post: 0 Gender: Trade: Plumber	Re: Asbestos ceiling with upstairs bedroom Reply #4 - Jan 6^th, 2021, 3:58am Chrysotile is the most common form of asbestos and safety depending on the product. Have you considered knocking up a suspended ceiling provided the joists will carry it, Perhaps a metal frames system? https://www.google.com/search?sxsrf=ALeKk01MTqlMDtFZObCjcAX1iAitsgmnjA:160990541...
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stuenguk

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Re: Asbestos ceiling with upstairs bedroom
Reply #5 - Jan 18^th, 2021, 10:37am

Thank you for the feedback. I called a few different companies and asked their advice too and the overall consensus was the boarding and skimming option was the best. They said Chrysotile is the most common form of asbestos and isn't the most dangerous. So as long as its either intact and undamaged or concealed under board and plaster then its perfectly safe.

I have now had the boarding and plastering done and it looks fine. The ceiling wasn't as bad as the first person who viewed the job had lead me to believe so it was actually straightforward to do.

Thank you to all for your advice and input. Now I just have a massive redecorating job to do Shocked

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