Asphalt Siding Contain Asbestos

Testing your siding for asbestos.

Asphalt siding contain asbestos.

Asphalt or cement roofing and siding that contain asbestos when intact and in good condition are generally considered nonfriable and are not hazardous. If your siding fits either of these descriptions you should consider having it tested. It is very difficult to remove spray paint graffiti without also dissolving or discoloring some of the siding surface coating material itself. There is no legal requirement to do so nor is there significant real estate benefit.

The siding may also contain asbestos if it is old with a wood grain texture to resemble cedar. Roof shingles even if the material contained asbestos which it might are rarely the only nor even the principal source of problem levels of asbestos fibers in a building and i. Below is an overview of sampling results for asphalt shingles gathered to date. Nonfriable means they cannot be broken up by hand pressure.

Asbestos ranks high on the list of dangerous substances because of its toxic and carcinogenic properties when airborne. It is virtually impossible for anyone but a trained professional with a high powered microscope to tell definitively whether a shingle contains asbestos. These shingles are generally 12 by 24 inches and the bottom tends to have a wave like pattern though that is not always the case. If you suspect that your siding may contain asbestos there is no need for alarm.

A construction and demolition debris recycler in iowa has sampled loads of shingles since 1999. In addition many older asphalt tiles manufactured between the 1920s and 1960s contain asbestos filler fibers. Cement asbestos siding tiles do not need to be removed simply because they contain asbestos. Wrap asbestos siding in 6 mil thick plastic sheeting and secure the plastic with duct tape or place the debris in heavy duty plastic bags.

Shingles placed on a roof before the mid 1980s might contain asbestos. Some asphalt roof shingle products and therefore quite possibly some asphalt siding products did indeed contain asbestos fibers in their substrate or coating. Dispose of the asbestos properly at a landfill or contact your local waste collection service to find out if they will pick up asbestos material. Cementitious siding installed after 1973 is very unlikely to contain asbestos.

However asbestos fibers can cause serious lung and respiratory problems if inhaled. The only true way to tell if the tiles contain asbestos is by checking the package or having a lab test a piece of the tile for asbestos. These materials are known as fiber cement siding and they contain no asbestos.