Asbestos Ceiling Removal
Have you found asbestos in your ceiling, or do you think it might be there? Once an asbestos ceiling is drilled for downlighters, sanded or pulled down, it releases fibres you cannot see, and those fibres cause mesothelioma and lung cancer decades later.
We have been handling asbestos ceiling removal safely for over 30 years. Call us on 0239 307 2182 and we will talk you through your options.
Get In Touch With Our Asbestos Ceiling Specialists
Fill out the form and one of our asbestos ceiling specialists will be in touch. Photos of the ceiling and the rough size of the room help if you have them.
30+ Years Experience
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What To Do If You Think Your
Ceiling Contains Asbestos
Leave it alone until you know what it is.
Do not drill into it for downlighters, cables or a new light fitting. Do not sand or scrape it ready for skimming. Do not pull down a cracked or sagging section to see what is behind it, and do not start opening up the ceiling from the loft side.
If part of the ceiling has already come down, get everyone out of the room, including pets, close the door and leave the debris where it is. Do not sweep it or vacuum it with a household hoover.
An asbestos ceiling in good condition is stable. Sound, painted surfaces release very little, and in most cases the ceiling has sat there without causing a problem for decades. The danger starts when the material is disturbed or damaged.
Send us a few photos through our online enquiry form or on WhatsApp and we will tell you what you are dealing with.
How To Tell If Your
Ceiling Contains Asbestos
Age is the biggest clue. Asbestos was banned in the UK in 1999, so treat any ceiling put up or decorated before 2000 as suspect. Amosite was banned in 1985, while chrysotile carried on until the full ban.
There are three types you will normally find. Textured coatings with swirls, stipples or combed patterns often contain chrysotile. Ceiling tiles, glued or in suspended ceilings, can contain asbestos in the tile and the adhesive behind it. Asbestos insulating board commonly contains amosite and looks almost exactly like plasterboard, so it often gets drilled without anyone realising.
You cannot confirm any of these by eye. An asbestos survey or a sample test at a UKAS-accredited laboratory is the only way to be certain.
Warning signs include cracks, sagging, water stains and flaking paint. Damaged asbestos ceilings release microscopic fibres linked to mesothelioma, asbestosis and lung cancer.
Accreditations We Are Proud Of
We hold the accreditations that matter for this kind of work, we are fully insured, and every job is carried out in line with the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 and Health and Safety Executive guidance. Our operatives refresh their asbestos awareness training every 12 months.
Where Asbestos Is
Found In A Ceiling
In UK homes it turns up most often in kitchens, bathrooms, hallways and landings, usually as a textured coating. Board ceilings are common in integral garages, airing cupboards, boiler cupboards and under stairs, and some system-built houses from the 1960s and 1970s have board ceilings throughout.
Coving and ceiling roses were often finished in the same textured material and come down with the ceiling. Garage ceilings and outbuildings can also have asbestos cement sheets fixed under the roof, which is worth checking if you are also dealing with an asbestos garage roof.
In commercial buildings the usual suspects are ceiling tiles in suspended ceilings, board ceilings in plant rooms and corridors, and textured coatings in stairwells.
Send Us A Photo And We Will Tell You What It Is
You do not need to book anything to find out what you are looking at. Send a few clear photos and one of our team will tell you whether it looks like an asbestos ceiling and what your options are.
The most useful three are a photo of the whole ceiling from the doorway, a close-up of the surface or the tiles, and one of any cracks, stains or damaged areas. Tell us the rough size of the room and roughly when the house was built.
Use the online enquiry form or send them straight over on WhatsApp.
How Much Does Asbestos Removal Cost For A Ceiling
There is no single price, because no two ceilings are the same. Online cost guides quote wildly different figures for that reason, and none of them can see your ceiling. Asbestos removal cost for a ceiling comes down to a handful of things.
The material type comes first. Textured coatings and asbestos cement are non-licensed work. Asbestos insulating board is licensed work, which needs a sealed enclosure, air monitoring and a clearance test, so it costs considerably more for the same size of room.
After that it is property size and total area. A single room is priced differently to multiple rooms, although doing multiple rooms in one visit usually brings the total cost down, because the setting up is paid for once. Ceiling height, stairwells, access and location all play a part too.
Then there is what comes down with the ceiling, and what goes back up. Lath and plaster ceilings take longer than plasterboard. Coving, ceiling roses and loft insulation all add to the job. If you want a new plasterboard ceiling fitted afterwards, that is priced in rather than left for you to arrange separately.
Most asbestos costs vary depending on these details, which is why we do not give ballpark figures. Send photos so we know what we are dealing with, then we arrange a site visit and give you a fixed asbestos removal price in writing, with no obligation and no hidden costs.
Hundreds Have Been Where You Are. Here's What They Say.
How We Remove An Asbestos Garage in 4 Simple Steps
Every project runs the same way, whether it is one kitchen ceiling or every ceiling in the house.
Site Survey, Testing And Planning
We start with an asbestos survey, or a review of any report you already have. Surveys are essential before any renovation work begins. Where the ceiling needs confirming, our surveyors take samples and send them to a UKAS-accredited laboratory. Our surveyors are qualified to BOHS P402 standard or higher.
The results tell us which material type it is, what condition it is in and how much of it there is. That decides the removal process, whether it is licensed work or non-licensed work, and your fixed price.
Safe Containment And Removal
Our team arrives with everything needed to do the work without releasing fibres. That means FFP3-rated respiratory masks, Type 5/6 coveralls and full protective equipment, with a method statement and risk assessment agreed before anything is touched.
The work area is sealed off with polythene sheeting and signed, with floors and fittings protected. Controlled wetting keeps dust down throughout. Wherever possible the ceiling comes down whole, board by board, rather than being scraped or broken, and no power tools go near the material.
Textured coatings and asbestos cement can usually be removed as non-licensed work when handled carefully. Where the ceiling is asbestos insulating board, it is licensed work, which means a 14-day notification to the HSE, a sealed enclosure with negative pressure units and air monitoring throughout.
Certified Asbestos Ceiling Disposal
Large boards are double-wrapped in 1000-gauge polythene and smaller waste goes into heavy-duty asbestos bags, all sealed and labelled as it comes down. It is consigned as hazardous waste and transported to a licensed facility. Asbestos waste cannot go in a normal skip, bin or tip.
If you already have ceiling material on site that someone else has taken down, we can arrange collection and disposal with the same paperwork.
Final Clearance And Cleaning
Once the material is off site we clean the room down with specialist vacuums and damp wiping, and our operatives and equipment go through decontamination before leaving. Air monitoring confirms the room is clear, and licensed work ends with a four-stage clearance test before the room is handed back.
You receive a hazardous waste consignment note and full disposal documentation as your proof the work was carried out legally.
Recent Asbestos Ceiling Projects Across The UK
Real ceilings, taken down and cleared. Recent projects include bedroom and bathroom ceilings with coving in Farnborough,54.5 square metres of ceilings in Worthing,collapsed ceilings in Gosport, and kitchen ceilings removed with a new ceiling fitted in Southampton andWeymouth. You can see more of our recent asbestos projects across the UK in the full portfolio.
Asbestos Removal Project – Salisbury, Wiltshire
Refurbishment Asbestos Survey at Dorchester Middle School, Dorset
Refurbishment Asbestos Survey at Barn House, East Sussex
Targeted Refurbishment Asbestos Survey at Spitfire House, Southampton
Asbestos Ceiling Removal and Reinstatement – Portsmouth
Asbestos Removal Project – Hamble-le-Rice, Southampton
Do You Need The
Ceiling Removed, Covered Or Replaced?
Most people call us about one ceiling and then find the landing or the kitchen next door is the same material. Which option is right comes down to the condition of the ceiling and what you want the room to look like afterwards.
Covering Or Overboarding It
The right choice when the ceiling is sound and nothing needs to go through it. New plasterboard fixed over the existing ceiling covers it completely, and it costs a fraction of full removal. The catch is every fixing after that, which has to stop short of the old ceiling behind, and the asbestos still has to be declared when you sell. If you only want the coating gone, see our artex asbestos removal service.
Full Removal Down To The Joists
This is what you need when the ceiling is damaged, when downlighters or a rewire mean it will be disturbed anyway, or when you want the asbestos gone for good. The whole ceiling comes down, coving included, and the room is left clean with the joists exposed, ready for your plasterer or builder.
Removal And A New Ceiling Fitted
This one suits you if you want the room back in use without organising a second trade. We take the asbestos ceiling down, clear and clean the room, then fit a new plasterboard ceiling. One team, one price, and nobody waiting on paperwork before they can start.
Send us photos of the ceiling and we will tell you which of the three you need.
Send us photos of the garage inside and out and we will tell you which of the three you actually need.
Asbestos span Ceilings Removed Across The UK
We remove asbestos ceilings anywhere in the UK. Our main coverage areas are Hampshire, Berkshire, Dorset, Wiltshire, Surrey, Kent, London, West Sussex, East Sussex, Essex, Edinburgh and Glasgow. That includes towns such as Guildford, Dorking, Cobham, Camberley, Reigate, Woking and Kingston upon Thames across Surrey and south-west London, and Brighton and Hove on the south coast.
If you need the wider building checked as well as the ceiling, our asbestos survey team covers the same areas. Call us on 0239 307 2182, message us on WhatsApp or fill in our online enquiry form and we will talk you through your asbestos removal options.
Book Your Asbestos Ceiling Removal Before It's Too Late
An asbestos ceiling in good condition is not an emergency. One that is cracked, sagging, water damaged or holding up a renovation needs dealing with, and it will not improve on its own.
We handle everything from survey through to certified disposal, clearance and a new ceiling if you want one, so there is nothing left for you to sort out afterwards.
Call us on 0239 307 2182, email admin@meyerenvironmental.co.uk, message us on WhatsApp or fill in our online enquiry form and one of our asbestos ceiling specialists will get back to you.
Contact Information
UK Head Office:
Meyer Southern/Surveys Ltd.
Langstone Gate,
Solent Road,
Havant,
PO9 1TR
Request An Asbestos Ceiling Quote
Fill in the form and one of our asbestos ceiling specialists will come back to you the same day. Photos of the ceiling, the tiles or any damage help, so add them if you have any.
Questions Our Customers Ask About Asbestos Ceilings
What does an asbestos ceiling look like?
Most look like any other ceiling from the same era. The common ones are textured coatings with swirls, stipples or combed patterns, square ceiling tiles either glued up or sitting in a suspended grid, and flat board ceilings that look like plasterboard.
There is no colour or finish that separates asbestos ceilings from ordinary ones. Most have been painted several times, which hides whatever is underneath.
Age is the strongest indicator. If the ceiling went up or was decorated before 2000, treat it as suspect until a sample test says otherwise. Send us photos and we will give you our view.
Does my artex ceiling contain asbestos?
It may. Textured coatings applied before 2000 often contain chrysotile, particularly those applied before the mid-1980s. Plenty of later ones do not.
An artex ceiling in good condition is low risk. The asbestos is bound into the coating and the paint on top seals it further.
If you want to keep the ceiling and lose the coating, our artex asbestos removal service covers that. If the whole artex ceiling is coming down, that is what this service is for.
Can ceiling tiles contain asbestos?
Yes. Some older ceiling tiles were made with asbestos, particularly in kitchens, garages, porches and commercial buildings from the 1960s and 1970s. Glued ceiling tiles are worth a second look, because the adhesive daubs behind them can contain asbestos as well.
Suspended ceilings in offices and schools are the other common place. The tiles lift out of the grid, which makes them easy to disturb without realising.
HSE guidance treats removing a single asbestos insulating board ceiling tile as non-licensed work. Removing a whole ceiling of them is normally licensed work.
Can plasterboard contain asbestos?
Ordinary plasterboard does not. The problem is that asbestos insulating board looks almost exactly like it, and it was used for ceilings in integral garages, airing cupboards, boiler cupboards and some system-built homes.
Asbestos insulating board is far more hazardous than textured coatings. It commonly contains amosite, and a licensed contractor is required to remove it.
If a board ceiling in a pre-2000 building is about to be cut or drilled, get it tested first.
How long does it take to confirm whether my ceiling contains asbestos?
Send photos and we will usually come back to you the same day with our view on what the material is.
If samples need taking, laboratory testing typically takes a couple of days once the sample is with the lab. The results confirm whether asbestos is present, which type it is and what condition the material is in.
That feeds straight into the site visit and your fixed price, so nothing is guessed at.
Do I need an asbestos survey before the removal of asbestos?
In most cases, yes. An asbestos survey confirms which asbestos materials are present, what type they are and what condition they are in. For non-domestic buildings, a refurbishment and demolition survey is a legal requirement before any work that disturbs the fabric of the building.
The survey also sets the removal process. Panels that turn out to be asbestos insulating board need a licensed contractor to remove asbestos safely, while textured coatings and asbestos cement from a garage roof are handled as lower-risk work.
Our surveyors take samples for testing at a UKAS-accredited laboratory, and the professional advice that comes with the results tells you whether the removal of asbestos is needed at all, or whether the material can be left, managed and safely removed later. Controlled wetting significantly reduces dust and fibre release during sampling and removal, so testing itself adds very little risk.
