Painting walls and ceiling with asbestos

Discussion in 'Renovation & Home Improvement' started by joe2030, 13th Oct, 2015.

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  1. joe2030

    joe2030 Well-Known Member

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    I am going to renovate one of properties ( 3 br house ). There are walls and ceiling probably containing asbestos. Can I paint over the existing walls and ceiling? Is there any issue if I do so? or Should I replace with new plaster boards like gyprock before painting? My handy man recommended replacing with new, but it may cost double.
     
  2. Greyghost

    Greyghost Well-Known Member

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    The eves on one of my properties are asbestos. I wouldn't recommend aggrevating the asbestos. In my case painting over it is no problem.
    As far as getting a nice finish inside, if not much prep work is involved (sanding) should be okay. But I wouldn't muck around with that stuff..
     
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  3. bob shovel

    bob shovel Well-Known Member

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    As long as the original paint is intact just paint as normal. the original paint seals the evil demons inside
     
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  4. joe2030

    joe2030 Well-Known Member

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    Grey host, bob, thanks for the quicky reply.
    I understand It sounds ok to paint over the evil if time and cost is important.

    One more thing, I hate the vertical joint bar on the walls. The bar really tell the wall is old plaster board contain asbestos. (I am trying post the pic but failed. Post it later) Do we have a way to hide it?

    Taki
     
  5. WestOz

    WestOz Well-Known Member

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    +1 to above provided the surfaces are good enough to patch & paint without major works to base.

    What was his reasoning/concern for this?
     
  6. joe2030

    joe2030 Well-Known Member

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    The photo is uploaded. The bar is on the right side of the pic.
     

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  7. rhinsor

    rhinsor Well-Known Member

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    You can get them tested for about $25 a sample. I got it done in Perth last month.

    You can paint over them fine.
    Washing is fine if you want to get rid of dirt and paint flakes. Sanding would not be recommended.

    The join bar holds the boards together, I wouldn't recommend removing them as the corners of the boards probably won't be sealed and asbestos flakes could become airborne.
     
  8. joe2030

    joe2030 Well-Known Member

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    My handy man just wanted to make it better. That's all.
     
  9. bob shovel

    bob shovel Well-Known Member

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    As you have no cornice you could sheet gyprock over the top, then cornice. You'd just need to replace the skirting
     
  10. joe2030

    joe2030 Well-Known Member

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    OK. I will consider to ask the asbestos testing.
     
  11. joe2030

    joe2030 Well-Known Member

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    That would be another good idea, I will discuss with my handyman.
     
  12. rhinsor

    rhinsor Well-Known Member

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    Is it worth spending additional money on renovations?
    Will it increase the value of the property?
    Do you just want to rent it out?
     
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  13. joe2030

    joe2030 Well-Known Member

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    The main purpose is getting a new tenant and increasing the equity.
    So I need find out the best option for investment.
     
  14. gman65

    gman65 Well-Known Member

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    That would leave somebody with a very nasty surprise one day, if they drilled through unknowingly and disturbed all the fibres below. It would in fact be worse than leaving it as is, at least its all visible in the outer layer what it is.

    Either replace it all, or just paint over. I'd just paint over until such time it becomes mandatory to remove it or some such.
     
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  15. Azazel

    Azazel Well-Known Member

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    Contact some of the asbestos removal companies to get an idea of how much is there, and how much it will cost to remove.
     
  16. joe2030

    joe2030 Well-Known Member

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    I confirmed asbestos testing cost $150-450 in Brisbane. Another bad news is a electrician is unable to replace with a new ceiling fan because the ceiling may contain asbestos.

    As a result, I decided not to do anything about asbestos at this time.
    I will ask my handy man to just paint over.

    Thank you everyone for your help.
     
  17. bob shovel

    bob shovel Well-Known Member

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    Tell your sparky to learn how to drill asbestos. I did some asbestos training and it's pretty straight forward. Plus if you have a light or fan already no drilling should be required. Find another sparky
     
  18. joe2030

    joe2030 Well-Known Member

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    Hi Bob, thank you for your information. I see it depends on a sparky's skills, experiences. I will talk to another electrician.
     
  19. FrivolousPanda

    FrivolousPanda Well-Known Member

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    Hi,

    Found this old thread whilst looking to confirm the right way of preparing eaves containing asbestos. The painter mentioned he will lightly sand the eaves. The eaves are in pretty good condition with no paint peeling or mould. However, I'm confused as I have read frequently that material containing asbestos should not be sanded.

    Any comments from professional painters or people who have had their eaves painted?

    Thanks
     
  20. wylie

    wylie Moderator Staff Member

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    I wouldn't sand the eaves. We have some bubbled eaves and just told the painter to paint over whatever was there, remove any paint that "falls off" easily but no sanding, no scraping.
     
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