How to take an asbestos sample at home

Taking a sample is a small, careful job, and you can do it. Most people are done in about 10 minutes. This page takes you through it, step by step, with steps based on HSE guidance.

Worth testing: your kit has everything you need

Your home asbestos test kit comes with:

• an FFP3 disposable respirator (the mask)
• a disposable coverall
• single-use gloves
• a spray bottle, for misting the spot with water
• double sample bags: one bag for the sample, and a second to seal it in
• a step-by-step guide
• a return envelope, to post your sample to the lab

The only other things you'll want are a hand tool, such as a flat screwdriver or a small scraper, a plastic sheet or bin bag to put down underneath, a roll of tape, and a damp cloth.

What home kits are made for

These are the common, firmly bound materials in UK homes that a home kit is designed for:

• Textured coatings such as Artex, on ceilings and walls. See our Artex guide.
• Floor tiles, including old 9-inch squares, and the black adhesive under them. The tile and the adhesive can be different materials, so they may need a sample each. See floor tiles.
• Sheet vinyl flooring, taken from an edge.
• Cement sheets and panels on sheds, garages, porches and extensions. See cement sheets.
• Garage and shed roofs, and wall sheets, taken from an edge you can reach standing on the ground. See garage roofs.
• Gutters and downpipes, from a part you can reach from the ground.
• Soffits, where you can reach an edge from the ground.
• Cement flue pipes, from a cold end, with the boiler or fire switched off and cooled.
• Cement water tanks, usually in the loft, from the top edge.
• Window putty and mastic, and old sealant round frames.
• Bitumen felt on sheds, garages and flat roofs, from an edge you can reach from the ground.

Not sure which one you're looking at? Send us a photo and we'll tell you what's worth testing, and how many samples.

Take your sample in about 10 minutes, step by step

HSE's survey guide for professionals describes taking a small piece through the full depth of the material, misting it first and putting it straight into a sealable bag. These steps follow the same approach.

1. Clear the room. Ask other people and pets to wait in another room while you work, and close the door.
2. Put a plastic sheet down under the spot, to catch any bits.
3. Put on your coverall, gloves and FFP3 mask. The mask seals against your skin, so be clean-shaven: HSE says stubble stops this kind of mask sealing properly.
4. Mist the spot with water from the spray bottle. Damp material gives off far less dust.
5. Take a small piece. Hold the open bag just underneath. With your hand tool, take a piece about the size of a 20p coin, through the full depth of the material, straight into the bag. Choose an out-of-the-way spot, such as a corner, the edge of a sheet or the edge of a tile.
6. Seal the bag, then put it inside the second bag and seal that too.
7. Label it with where the sample came from, for example "kitchen ceiling" or "garage roof, back edge". A photo of the spot helps too.
8. Seal the spot with a strip of tape or a dab of paint.
9. Damp-wipe the tool, the area and the plastic sheet. Fold the sheet in on itself.
10. Bag everything else. Take off the coverall and gloves, then the mask last, and seal them in a bag with the wipes and the sheet. Your local council can tell you how to get rid of it.

Then post your sample to the lab in the return envelope.

Roofs, gutters and anything up high

For garage roofs, wall sheets, soffits, gutters and felt, the sample comes from an edge you can reach standing on the ground. Old cement sheets are brittle, and HSE's survey guide says roof sampling needs special safety precautions, so staying on the ground is the safe, simple way to do it. A gutter, downpipe or lower edge on the same building is often the easiest place. If nothing is in reach from the ground, send us a photo and we'll help you find the best spot.

How many samples?

One for each different material, colour or area. Ceilings textured at different times count separately. Floor tiles of different colours count separately, and the adhesive may need its own. Our free photo check suggests a number for you, and the kit is £44.99 with one lab sample, with each extra sample £12.

After you post it

Your sample will be analysed by a UKAS-accredited laboratory, named on every certificate, and your result will come to you by email, in writing. Only the lab can tell you for sure. See what your result means.

Questions people ask

Updated 24 October 2026