Hey Gang,
I`m planning an addition to my home this coming September at which time I plan to strip and reside the entire house. The “God Awful” existing asbestos shingles cover the original clapboard siding whose condition I am uncertain of. I have yet to check with my local building dept. as to procedure and I have yet to experience this dilema with my home improvement business.
Is it required to call in an asbestos abatement crew to strip this cancer from my house? Many homes in my area have gone through this transformation in the past and I have NEVER seen a specialty crew called in for this detail. Is this something any of you have experience with? I get the feeling that if nobody questions the work being done than no ones the wiser. I don`t think most people realize what this one time “siding of the future” is made of. I don`t want to try pulling the wool over any ones eyes, I`m just curious as to any comments from the peanut gallery.
Your input is, as always, apreciated!
J. D. Reynolds
Home Improvements
“DO IT RIGHT, DO IT ONCE”
Replies
I own an environemntal consulting company based in California. The procedures for removing asbestos vary by state, and sometimes by regions within a state. Wherever you are, the US EPA has to have prior notification of the planned asbestos abatement (removal) work. In some areas, US EPA has delegated handling this to local air quality management districts. In most states, asbestos abatement contractors must be licensed. The waste must also be properly hauled and disposed. Many states also have licensing or certification requirements for asbestos consultants. I suggest contacting a local asbestos consultant for guidance. You may also need a lead paint consultant and a lead abatement contractor, as the old siding may be coated with lead paint.
Last year I resided a house with fiber cement after the homeowner removed the asbestos. In Oregon, the homeowner can do that with minimal restriction, but disposal must include double bagging, labeling and transport to a certified disposal site.
Having been schooled and licensed at one time as an asbestos removal supervisor, I remain a skeptic of the hazards of handling asbestos materials such as shingles, flooring, ceiling tiles, etc., where the material is non-friable. (just my personal opinion)
Some people would bitch even if they were hung with a new rope.
This is what I did and noone blinked an eye. I removed the shingles, took them to a dump site, paid for the load and left. Asbestos is deemed dangerous in air-borne particles which can be breathed into lungs. I tried to remove the shingles without breaking them into thousand pieces. This I learned when I dropped them on the lawn and later picked up the pieces one by one. I should have had a tarp ready. The clap boards may be in bad shape, just from the shingle nails. Trying to save the boards may be more work than you bargained for. Shingle nails have to pulled out carefully, nails have to be counter sunk if you are going to remove the old paint (that is, if you are going to use motorized paint scraper), and all the work may not guarantee that new paint is going to stay stuck. On two larger walls, I sided with vinyl over the cedar and asbestos shingles. Vinyl is looking better and better since all houses under million dollars (northeast NJ) has some or all vinyl on them. I could not think of any negative effect that leaving the old sidings would have on the house. except knowing that the house has so many skins. I thought of moisture problems, but my inclination is to control the moisture from inside, such as sealing the electrical boxes and around the moldings. On lead paint, until 250 million people agree that it is not dangerous, I would not take a chance on yourself, your family and your neighbors. Hope this helps and thanks for chance to practice typing.
My experience has been the same as Notchman's, except I am the homeowner. Here in Georgia, the homeowner is still allowed to do such work himself. A contractor works under a totally different set of rules. I was working on an addition and wanted to re-use the asbestos siding. The building suppliers here still sell the stuff, but it is now made, of course, without the asbestos. The wavy bottom tiles are available as well as the straight. I used a hacksaw blabe to slip in and cut off the nails.
If I were doing a straight demolition job, I'd probalby use a good respirator and a nail set to simply punch the nails through the siding. This would prevent as much breakage and mess. A thin flat bar will certainly get it off, but it's much easier to handle in large pieces.
Just for your information, I was very careful to package and double wrap the broken pieces, and tape the packages. I took the load to our local municipal landfill, and paid the premium price for "Toxic Waste". Then I watched them pitch it all into the trench for general
construction debris - the 2 cents a pound pile ! !
My addition does not look at all like an addition - on the wall, it's really a very good siding product. Just don't let the boys bounce a basketball off of it.
Good luck. Greg.
In the early 80's I worked at a local military base remodelling old buildings. A lot of them had those asbestoes shingles for siding and we were all the time removing a few pieces to install new windows, doors, etc.
The easiest way to remove them is by cutting the nails. We used to slide a stiff putty knife under the shingle and give it a good rap with a hammer and the nails would snap off, clean as a whistle. Tried the nail set method, but broke a lot of shingles before someone showed me the putty knife thing.
There's a special tool for removing those asbestos shingles. My uncle came up with one when my aunt decided to take that stuff off the ancestral home (in Georgia). Must have been in the barn since they installed it originally. It's a long flat thing that reaches up under the shingles, I think. I didn't study it close, but it reminded me of that thing that they use to jimmy car doors open, only rustier. I would suggest anybody who wants to remove those shingles find one of those old tools. Probably cheap on ebay if you could figure out what it's called. It worked great.
The tool your talking about costs about twenty dollars I got mine six months at a specialty tool store.I think it's called an asbestos shingle remover.
Shingle Puller, Shingle Ripper, Nail puller, among others. easier than a putty knife, same concept except you use it with a downward blow instead of upwards with the putty knife. And its alot stronger and longer (about 24"). Ooh, leave that one alone.
Sounds like the long tool used to go under shingles to reach back and pop off the roofing nails.
Ken Hill