Asbestos in pre-2000 homes
Textured coating is on the garage ceiling and nowhere the surveyor saw in the house. Why does the garage not answer the house, or the house the garage?
No, textured coating on the garage ceiling does not answer the house, and a house where none was seen does not answer the garage. Each place is its own observation. HSE says asbestos, including textured coatings, can be in buildings built or refurbished before 2000. The surveyor saw coating in the garage and did not see it in the house. That split is the finding. The garage does not clear the rooms that were not coated in view, and the house does not clear the garage ceiling.
Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Written for buyers in England and Wales unless this answer says otherwise. No named surveyor has signed this page. It is general guidance, not a report on your house, and not legal advice.
What is the fuller explanation?
It is tempting to average the two. Either the whole property is treated as coated because the garage is, or the garage is ignored because the lounge looks smooth. Both moves throw away what the inspection actually separated. Coatings can be in one building and not another. The survey can only talk about surfaces it saw. A smooth lounge ceiling is not a test of the garage, and the garage texture is not a test of the lounge.
Keep the two notes apart when you brief anyone. The garage ceiling is a textured coating that has not been sampled. The house is 'not seen there', which is not a certificate that no coating exists behind a later skim. Do not scrape the garage to compare it with a flake from the house. Ask a competent person if identification is needed, and tell them the locations are different. The home survey has not tested either ceiling.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Where exactly did you see textured coating, and where did you see none?
- Does a smooth house ceiling get recorded as untested, not as a clear bill?
- Should the garage coating stay in its own sentence?
What are the typical next steps?
- Keep the garage coating and the house ceilings as separate notes.
- Do not let one of them answer the other.
- Do not scrape the garage coating to compare it with the house.
Costs vary with the building and with who you instruct. Where this page does not cite a published figure, ask the surveyor, a relevant specialist, or your solicitor for a written quote. Do not treat a forum average as the price.
Also asked about this
If the garage is detached, does its coating stay irrelevant?
No. Detached is a location, not a test. The garage coating is still unanswered by the house, and the house is still unanswered by the garage.
Can you skim the garage and treat that as identification?
No. Skimming covers the texture. It does not identify it, and it does not change what was or was not seen in the house.