Monday 26 November 2012

Being asbestos aware

Asbestos. It's that dirty word which strikes fear into the heart of the seasoned and unseasoned DIY renovator.

The ubiquitous sheet of asbestos fibro cement which forms the fabric of most of our pre-1987 homes is not something you should be touching when you're renovating.

This week marks National Asbestos Awareness Week in Australia. And for those of you who are renovating older homes or are about to embark on your renovating odyssey, it's a timely reminder to be careful and mindful about what you are dealing with.


A recent study showed that over a four year period between 2005 and 2008,  8.4% of all men and 35.7% of all women diagnosed with mesothelioma (asbestos related disease) were home renovators, with renovations and maintenance being the main cause of the disease in women. Yikes! 

The campaign is about educating home owners. We need to ask ourselves whether our homes could contain asbestos products and could we be playing renovation roulette - putting our health and the health of our family at risk when renovating...

We have asbestos in the Sow's Ear - our whole under the house was clad in asbestos sheeting and most of our sun room was clad in asbestos. Unfortunately for us a lot of it was cracked and disturbed, therefore a good enough reason to remove  it. We've had the majority of it removed and disposed professionally. It's just easier. 

For the record we have DIYed asbestos removal in our last home but took all the necessary safety precautions with masks and disposable suits and hired a plastic lined asbestos bin for disposal. But really, if you don't need to touch it, then don't.

If you'd like to know more about the asbestos in your home and what you need to do with it if you intend to renovate, just visit asbestosawareness.com.au 

Being informed is a renovator's best tool of trade. 


 

14 comments:

  1. Completely agree. Dan and I are dedicated DIYers but when it comes to asbestos, we pay the price and get it done by the pros. It's not worth the risk.

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  2. Yep Betsy has her fair share of this too and we are getting the experts to get rid of it. The whole front facade on the right side is as well but we are leaving it well alone as it is in good condition. It was a relief to discover that only the ceiling in the 4th bedroom is suspected asbestos, the rest are genuine horsehair plaster. mel x

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  3. scarey stuff. There definitely needs to be more awareness of this issue, so many people do not realise what can happen, unfortunately. I also worry about paint and solvents too. Mx

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  4. We have asbestos here too..in the front room we just painted over it as it is in good nick but it will need to be removed when we renovate the bathroom.

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  5. EXCELLENT post....the more people that are aware of this, the better! x kl

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  6. Asbestos. Hate it. Can't get rid of that shite fast (safely) enough for me. People should die naturally, not because they've inhaled filaments of building materials.

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  7. This is such valuable information for everyone to read - we also had some removed in hudson's house and was very very careful with it. My uncle passed away from mesothelioma and it was such an awful slow painful death - education is key! Great Post!!!

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  8. Awful stuff but mid century homes are full of it because it was all the rage, even for eaves. I've learnt it's fine to leave in situ if it's in good condition but definitely call in the professionals if you're going to remove or drill into it at all. Not worth the risk.

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  9. My friend died from this in August. A horrible disease. People must take this very seriously.

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  10. Is the cute blue house your first home?

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  11. Good for you for bringing this to people's attention. I recently watched "Devil's Dust" on the ABC. So, so sad learning how mesothelioma is indeed a slow and painful death.

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  12. Oh yes,l best not to muck around with the stuff - what an awful disease. We haven't found any here so I'm happy about that x

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