If you are considering buying or have recently purchased a property and it contains Artex ceiling coatings, you might be concerned that the coating will contain asbestos. It is certainly true that asbestos was commonly used in Artex and other kinds of ceiling coatings, they were especially popular throughout the 1980s. Therefore it is natural to assume that if there is Artex in a property, then you might have a problem with asbestos.
However, before jumping to the conclusion that asbestos is present, it is first important to note that not all Artex contains asbestos, and that the coatings that don’t contain the material can look identical to those that do. So simply inspecting the Artex yourself is not enough to determine whether asbestos is present. If no records of the material are available then the only way to ascertain whether asbestos is present is to have asbestos specialists come in to collect a sample of the Artex and then get it sent to a laboratory for testing.
It can actually be more problematic for some people if they believe that the Artex contains asbestos so they take the steps of removing it themselves as soon as possible, assuming that this is the best course of action to rid the property of the problem. But attempting to remove asbestos-containing materials yourself is one of the worst things you can do if you do not have the experience and knowledge to do it safely.
This is because asbestos is only usually dangerous when it has been disturbed. Damaging any Artex that contains asbestos will release fibres into the air where they can be breathed into the lungs. If you do need to have Artex removed, it is important to have asbestos specialists come in to carry out the work for you.