Are you budgeting for a home improvement project? Perhaps you’re considering giving your residence a fresh coat of paint? Alternatively, maybe there’s a specific wall that’s rough and uneven, in need of a plaster application?
However, any building assembled, altered or refurbished at any point between 1940 and the mid-1980s is likely to contain asbestos — a silicate mineral that can release lethal fibres if disturbed. This begs the question: would you be running health risks by painting or plastering over asbestos?
Why Might Your Walls Contain Asbestos?
Historically, asbestos has — largely due to its strength and fire resistance — long been used as a building material. For much of the 20th century, asbestos was often combined with plasterers Wellington and other coatings intended for walls.
As you can imagine, though, asbestos became less and less popular for such purposes as news spread about the health risks posed by the material. Today, it is public knowledge that asbestos fibres can easily become lodged in the lungs and cause potentially fatal conditions, e.g. cancer.
New Zealand prohibited the importation of raw asbestos (blue or brown) in 1984, followed by a ban on all asbestos-containing products (with limited exceptions) in 2016. If your home was constructed before October 1st, 2016 when the latter ban took effect, what steps should you take?
Recognising the Risk of Painting or Plastering Your Wall
As it is not possible to spot asbestos with just the naked eye, you should arrange for an asbestos surveyor to inspect the wall for signs of asbestos contamination.
It would only be safe to paint an asbestos-containing wall if it is in good condition. Also, you must avoid sanding or abrading the wall lest you damage the asbestos.
Due to this risk, some walls can be impossible to plaster without giving rise to dangerous asbestos exposure. One possible option with certain other asbestos walls, though, is to coat them with bonding before following up with PVA and then a skim coat of plaster.
Alternatively, you can simply give us the task of painting or plastering over the asbestos-contaminated wall (or at least assessing the viability of doing so). Just call 0800 DECOR8 for more details.