Found an old scary looking heater behind an innocuous fake fireplace. Heater itself looks easy enough to remove but that’s some major piping, maybe from an old whole building heat system?. Any bright thoughts - or should I just box it back in and leave it?
reddit.com/gallery/t538mi
reddit.comPosted Mar 2, 2022, 3:59 PM UTC
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the pipe lagging is high likely to be asbestos so I would advice against DIY removal.
Cheers, yeah - it looks more fibreglass-y but I’m leaving it well alone!
yea there was many different types of asbestos lagging in circulation and this looks like one I have seen before but that is no guarantee that it is/isn't definitely asbestos.
luckily your one looks to be undisturbed and in good condition so no urgent requirement to get it looked at.
That’s helpful, thanks - yeah it looks in good nick thankfully! Was already in a good mask by the time I got there so not worried. I think I’m just going to box the whole thing in a faced ply surround and make a feature of it as shelf - it’s going behind a sofa anyway. Thanks
Additionally you can probably guarantee that the boards behind it are asbestos. My neighbours had a fairly similar back boiler removed a few years ago and it was well insulated with asbestos boards.
Personally I'd pay to have it removed professionally, then it's gone and done with and you no longer have to worry about it.
This was my first thought too. Asbestos pipe lagging is HIGHLY friable (crumbly) and is therefore some of the most dangerous if disturbed.
Professional removal all day long, it won't be cheap I imagine as it needs to be encased in situ then removed from within the protection.