Health safety concerns related to the removal of asbestos containing roofs.
Is there asbestos in slate roofs.
Regular flat shingle tiles standard lap are shown below as are common diamond shaped tiles and side lap tiles.
Their color ranges between grey light green peachy orange and even purple.
When the use of asbestos became forbidden manufacturers rushed to replace asbestos containing products with cement based products reinforced with non asbestos materials.
The asbestos fibers are contained inside the slate and cannot be released unless broken.
Since asbestos building materials cannot be easily spotted with the naked eye the best clue is to find out when the roof was actually built.
It is not unreasonable to expect 100 years from a properly maintained asbestos roof.
While not able to match the endurance of slate asbestos shingles were expected to last a minimum of 30 years enhancing their desirability.
The asbestos fibers inside slates can only be released when they are broken and this roofing material does not necessarily require removal although many people choose to do it.
There is usually underlying.
Asbestos siding in particular however has a tendency to chip crack and break with normal wear and tear of family life.
Asbestos shingles were valued for being fireproof especially among those living in turn of the century communities where fire spread was a common concern.
The surveyors report states that the roof slates will contain asbestos fibres and they are perfectly acceptable and safe so long as they are not disturbed.
He also states that the slates are in reasonable condition.
What happened before the 1980s most artificial roofing slate was made from asbestos cement a material that had a long track record of successful performance.
Corrugated cement our least favorite acm to encounter.
Many asbestos roofs and siding are damaged cracked or broken.
However many states still require a licensed abatement contract to handle this material in approved ways.
There is more information about asbestos roofs in the slate roof bible.
Determine the age of the building.
Thankfully slate last for so long you don t run into the need to replace it often.
When a building is quite old it has a good chance of having asbestos building materials.
There are at least three types of asbestos shingles.
Asbestos was banned in 1989 so as the buildings that incorporated it age their roofing and siding will fall into disrepair.
There are two parts to a slate roof.
