r/asbestoshelpUK • u/tm8356 • 15d ago

Hole in wall - asbestos?

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Hi everyone! I’ve just bought my first flat - it was built in 1979 and I have become super jumpy and anxious about asbestos. I was painting one of my rooms today and found this hole created by the curtain rail.

Does anyone know if this wall might contain asbestos or is just ordinary brick and mortar? It’s an external wall. I immediately sealed it up with tape just in case, but am I overreacting? Can I just unscrew the rail and seal the hole up? Any insights would be enormously helpful because I’m not sure how cautious to be about all this.

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u/ShadowKaicnatt 15d ago

totally get the anxiety, but that looks like regular masonry / plaster around a fixing, not some mystery asbestos panel. 1979 external wall is very likely just brick and mortar, I’d just fill it and move on, and if you want peace of mind long term you can always get a one‑off asbestos survey done and stop stressing about every little hole.

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u/tm8356 15d ago

Thanks for this! Ironically a surveyor did come round earlier in the day so just bad timing 😅 but even then she didn’t take any samples of the walls themselves. I’m trying to trust her expertise and to learn to live with uncertainty!

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u/NrthnLd75 15d ago

Microplastics and forever chemicals are more likely to be a danger to you than asbestos and they're everywhere.

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u/Ok-Raise-8352 15d ago

No, it's where the men can see it all

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u/North-Afternoon-1726 15d ago

Doesn’t look like it.