What to Do if You Find Asbestos, Lead or Other Toxic Substances While Renovating?

Although toxic substances like asbestos pipe lagging and lead paint have been banned in building practices for many years in the UK, you can still find them in many British homes, especially those built before 1970. And, even if your property developing skills have reached Sarah Beeny’s levels, it’s always going to come as a nasty surprise when you reveal them in your luxury remodelling project. So what do you do?

Know the dangers of toxic substances in the home

Asbestos is responsible for the deaths of over 5,000 people every single year. It can cause Mesothelioma (a fatal cancer of the lung lining, exclusive to asbestos), asbestosis (a scarring of the lungs), pleural thickening (the membrane around the lungs, which restricts lung expansion and makes it hard to breathe) and more. Finding it in your home is a very serious thing indeed.

Lead particles from the water supply or paint dust can cause all kinds of problems, from behavioural and learning problems in children to reduced foetal growth in pregnant women and decreased kidney function in adults. If you find lead in your home, it’s essential that you have it removed.

Mercury, whether it’s in the water supply or the air, can cause all kinds of problems for people when it gets into their homes, from memory loss and muscle atrophy to nervous system and kidney damage. The good thing is, it’s one of the less likely forms of toxic substance you’ll find when buying a home, but it’s still very important to be aware of the risks.

Get a full structural survey before you buy

The best way to avoid costly removals of toxic substances is to find them before you buy your property. The best way to do this is by shelling out for a full survey by a reputable surveyor. A simple homebuyer survey may reduce your initial purchase costs, but the extra few hundred pounds you spend on a full structural survey could save you thousands of pounds in the long run.

If you’re buying at auction, you may well find a real bargain building, but you won’t be able to get that all-important survey done, so just be mindful of the risk. The last thing you need is to budget for a potentially stunning ‘fixer upper’ only to find it needs tens-of-thousands of pounds of work doing to remove the asbestos and lead.

Know where to look

Having a good idea of where toxic substances may occur in your property is half the battle won, especially if you don’t intend to have a full survey carried out. You should start by making sure your home hasn’t been built on a toxic landfill site. Properties on former landfill sites may have released mercury and other noxious substances into the groundwater; they may be releasing dangerous build-ups of methane from the rubbish below into the home – do your homework and look into the site’s history.

Inside the property itself, make sure you know the main areas you’re likely to find toxic substances in the home. HSE.gov.uk has great guidance on how to locate asbestos in the home. In terms of locating lead, you need to look at the paint on the window frames, the glaze on ceramic tiles (especially those you intend to remove!) and any old batteries in the cellar or attic that may have been used as alternative energy sources. Not to mention, of course, the pipes, running to your water supplies in the kitchen and bathroom.

Set some contingency funds aside

It always comes back to money, doesn’t it? And removal of asbestos and lead can cost quite a bit of it. So have some spare funds available, especially if you’re buying a home whose inner workings you haven’t fully investigated.

Replacing the lead pipes in your home might cost you somewhere in between £500 and £1,000 per 20m of piping. Asbestos is a wholly different beast, though, and could cost you anywhere between £200 and £2,500 dependent on the type and size of offending asbestos object you want to have removed. Having a contingency in your budget could mean the difference between getting your luxury home renovation finished in time and on budget and it coming to a complete standstill.

Can I remove asbestos myself? 

Do not remove asbestos yourself. We can’t stress that enough. Aside from it being illegal to do so, DIY asbestos removal is extremely dangerous. Only professionals with the proper equipment and full safety gear should be allowed to get anywhere near the asbestos. The same goes for lead – make sure you get a proper professional to carry out the job. Having these substances removed is about making sure you stay safe and you only put yourself at risk if you try to get rid of them yourself.

However, be careful how you choose your removal professionals. Most asbestos removal work can be carried out without a licence, so it’s important to do your research. Choose people with numerous positive Trustpilot reviews or case studies on their websites – this will help assure you that you’re in safe hands.