Does your Auckland residential or commercial property have a “popcorn” ceiling? Otherwise known as a “stucco” or ‘textured’ ceiling, it is recognisable from its distinctive bumpy surface.
While this isn’t the case for every popcorn ceiling, many ceilings of this type contain asbestos originally put there before it was known to pose risks to human health. So, you might be eager to learn how to remove a popcorn ceiling with asbestos.
In short, no. For this reason, if you do have a popcorn ceiling, you won’t know for certain whether it contains asbestos until part of the ceiling has been removed and tested for the presence of asbestos.
You might be tempted to try taking a test sample yourself, but we urge you to leave the task to a suitable professional instead. For example, if the property is in the Auckland region, you could ask us to visit and inspect the ceiling. If we determine that it contains asbestos, we can advise you on what to do next.
No. Asbestos consists of fibres which, if breathed in, can cause lung diseases including asbestosis, mesothelioma, and lung cancer. However, asbestos will only release these fibres into the air in specific circumstances – for example, if the material containing the asbestos is disturbed or damaged.
So, if the popcorn ceiling’s surface isn’t shedding any material or deteriorating in any other fashion, the asbestos might not actually present any major danger to the health of the property’s occupants.
Asbestos removal specialists can decide when inspecting the ceilings but are likely to advocate the timely removal of damaged or deteriorating popcorn ceilings containing asbestos.
Legally, removals like this in New Zealand often need to be undertaken by someone who has been licensed to do so. If the job is handled by someone lacking the relevant expertise, those potentially lethal fibres we mentioned earlier could too easily spread — and consequently contaminate the building as a whole.
Even putting aside the legal considerations, for your own safety, you should not attempt your own “amateur” removal of an asbestos popcorn ceiling in your property.
Qualified asbestos removalists, such as our own here at Union Demolition, use a rigorous and proven process to ensure safety. This includes the wearing of suitable protective clothing such as respirators, gloves, and coveralls. It also encompasses specialised methods like the preparation of the work area, the wetting of the asbestos, and the gentle scraping of the material from the ceiling, followed by safe and legally compliant disposal.
The typical property owner in NZ does not possess such equipment, knowhow, and experience. So, they would be putting themselves at considerable risk if they attempted to remove an asbestos popcorn ceiling themselves.
If you wish to know more about how to remove a popcorn ceiling with asbestos in Auckland, please call 021 544 905 to arrange for us to take that ceiling away on your behalf.
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