Identifying plaster in victorian terrace

[Vector771]

I'm removing some plaster on our rear external wall and want to know what type of Plaster it is. It seems to have a thin rigid white surface then powdery grey texture behind. Mainly keen to know it's not hazardous!

Thanks

 

[Wayners]

No cavity in wall so lime plaster?

 

[^woody^]

It won't be asbestos if that's what you mean. Just take normal precautions for working with construction dust.

 

[opps]

Should be fine but there is an incredibly small risk of anthrax. They used horse hair as a binding agent. There are fewer than one case per year of people inhaling anthrax horse hairs.

 

[^woody^]

Should be fine but there is an incredibly small risk of anthrax. They used horse hair as a binding agent. There are fewer than one case per year of people inhaling anthrax horse hairs.

Where did you get that bombshell from?

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

Should be fine but there is an incredibly small risk of anthrax. They used horse hair as a binding agent. There are fewer than one case per year of people inhaling anthrax horse hairs.

I did type that this was rubbish. Then googled it, apparently it's a genuine concern?!

I doubt that it would still be alive after 100 years.

It looks like it's a lucrative business for anthrax testing businesses though.

 

[RandomGrinch]

Where did you get that bombshell from?

It's one of the factors that HSE mentions when managing construction health risks...

Anthrax from contaminated land and buildings - Harmful micro-organisms - Controlling hazardous substances - Managing occupational health risks in construction

How to control the risks from anthrax if working on from contaminated land or buildings.

www.hse.gov.uk

 

[^woody^]

Oh please, that's more niche than ratatouille.

Zero chance of anthrax in the OPs victorian terrace, it does not even make any risk assessments.

 

[Vector771]

Thanks all! I must admit anthrax wasn't really on my mind but interesting to read about!

 

[JohnD]

so-called horsehair is frequently coconut fibre (coir). it was used to make "horsehair" mattresses as well as mats and ropes. It is usually gingery brown and much stiffer and springy than real horse hair.

In Victorian times it was imported in bales in vast quantities from the Empire, bought very cheap.

 

[opps]

I doubt that it would still be alive after 100 years.

Having googled it... "The longest survival claim is probably that of de Vos (1990) who recovered anthrax spores from bones retrieved during archaeological excavations at a site in the Kruger National Park, South Africa, that were estimated by carbon-dating to be 200 ± 50 years old."

Further Googling shows that "In 1992 Bowen & Turnbull (Turnbull, personal communication, 2002) found B. anthracis in samples of the plaster and lagging of London’s King’s Cross railway station roof space and dated this to infected horse hair used to bind the plaster when the building was constructed a century before (only in 1908 was the Horse Hair Act passed in the United Kingdom, requiring the sterilization of horse hair used in buildings).

As I said earlier, cases of infection are extremely rare, but there is a very, very slight risk. I suspect that the very low number of cases in the construction industry are, in part down to suitable PPE.

Anthrax seems to almost be as resilient as tardigrades.

What are tardigrades and why are they nearly indestructible?

Tardigrades are near-microscopic animals that can survive some of the most extreme conditions on Earth, including freezing temperatures, crushing pressures, and even the vacuum of space.

www.livescience.com

 

[opps]

so-called horsehair is frequently coconut fibre (coir). it was used to make "horsehair" mattresses as well as mats and ropes. It is usually gingery brown and much stiffer and springy than real horse hair.

In Victorian times it was imported in bales in vast quantities from the Empire, bought very cheap.

You may well be correct but horse hair was definitely used. Typically it was hair from the mane and tail. Apparently hair from goats and other animals were also used.

 

[RandomGrinch]

Apparently hair from goats and other animals were also used.

And even cows!

Putting a House on a Hill - or How to build a house in 1913!

Following on from a recent thread (talking about the benefits of keeping old books), I was remembering books from my childhood. A set of books fondly remembered, but sadly missed, was "The Children's Encyclopedia", by Arthur Mee. .... So, I had a look around eBay, and bought myself the full ten...

www.diynot.com

 

[mrrusty]

was used? how much you want?... https://www.limestuff.co.uk/additives/horse-hair

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

In later years the risk of anthrax was removed by using nice clean asbestos for fibre reinforcement instead. Problem solved!