Asbestos Insulation Board above Artex

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Jonh57

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I was ripping down an Artex ceiling on an outside porch when a neighbour warned there was Asbestos Insulation Board above the Artex (It was built in mid 1970s). I had a mask on and soaked the Artex ceiling first but I know that would not be enough protection if AIB was above it.
The board I ripped so far looks 100% like plasterboard and he later said he could be wrong but now I am in two minds.
Is it possible to visually tell the difference between 1970's plasterboard and 1970's AIB (thickness colour etc) or are they more or less identical.
 
Plasterboard looks like plasterboard. If it looks like plaster between paper, it's plasterboard.

If it looks like fibre, the same material right through, it's AIB.
 
^woody^ said:
Plasterboard looks like plasterboard. If it looks like plaster between paper, it's plasterboard.

If it looks like fibre, the same material right through, it's AIB.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that, so it is quite easy then to tell them apart. By fibre you mean it would look like fine strings running through it?
The bits I ripped out already just look like chalk and crumble to a fine dust.
I got weary as this neighbour (a retired builder) also said it would have the word gypsum or Gyproc printed on it somewhere if it was plaster board (it is just blank).
 
AIB will look a bit like MDF or hardboard when broken or cut, but lighter and grey. And not granular like plaster or cement board

The easiest thing to look for is the paper cover of plasterboard. Not all plasterboard is printed.
 
Just read the date on the original post, D'OH. That's 5 minutes of my life wasted.
 
Probably not worth mentioning, then, that until the 1990s Artex contained asbestos fibres....... and that visual I spectroscopy cannot be used to identify asbestos?
 
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