Asbestos shingles

Hi,

Our house currently has asbestos shingles with old vinyl siding on it. We are getting the vinyl siding removed and new vinyl siding put on.

Half of the contractors say leave teh asbestos on, and put the new vinyl on top because if they need to rip off the asbestos they need to tent the house, etc...

The other half of contractors say to rip it down, that asbestos siding is not something that needs to be tented.

I'm going to do a little research on this now but I was wondering if anyone has any input on this.. if anyone has went thru this before or has any DH's in the business.

Thanks,

Linda

Re: Asbestos shingles

Great question--we have these too & are hoping to get rid of them soon.

Re: Asbestos shingles

Technically, I am pretty sure you are supposed to take precautions when removing the asbestos shingles, like tenting the house. Asbestos is dangerous if it is friable, and becomes airborne. Calling in someone to remove asbestos is expensive, though, so I think a lot of people just choose not to do it. If I were doing it, I might leave the asbestos shingle and just re-cover it.

I found a website on this not long ago, if I can find it again, I will post it.

LINK

ETA: I wouldn't necessarily go on a contractor's say so that you shouldn't tent the house, especially if other contractors are telling you to do it.

Message edited 3/19/2006 3:07:29 PM.

Re: Asbestos shingles

Technically, I am pretty sure you are supposed to take precautions when removing the asbestos shingles, like tenting the house. Asbestos is dangerous if it is friable, and becomes airborne. Calling in someone to remove asbestos is expensive, though, so I think a lot of people just choose not to do it. If I were doing it, I might leave the asbestos shingle and just re-cover it.



YES!! This is true. Asbestos (including the old tile floors many of you will uncover in basements and such) is best left alone. Disturbing it releases the tiny particles in the air and then environmental precations need to be taken.

FYI: Most houses on LI (pre-aluminum/vinyl siding) were asbestos shingles. My DH and I sold the house he bought from the original owner and we still had the asbestos shingles on the house... they were just painted.

Re: Asbestos shingles

I just wanted to add that some contractors will do what is easiest for them and makes them the most money. If they are legally disposing asbestos, they need to take it to a dump site that is approved to accept hazardous materials. This is more costly for them, which is one reason why the cost of legally removing the asbestos is higher. They also should be certified in handling asbestos.

Re: Asbestos shingles

Re: Asbestos shingles

Message edited 3/19/2006 11:44:41 PM.

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We also decided to leave the shingle where it is. It is dangerous!!!

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For siding its pretty common to just go over it, my mom is doing this on her house...

Re: Asbestos shingles

I would take off both layers of siding!

You might have had a leak that cause the ply-wood under the asbestos to rot. Or what if you don't even have ply-wood under???

I'm a believer if your gonna do it - do it right!

Re: Asbestos shingles

Posted by ThreeCats

I would take off both layers of siding!

You might have had a leak that cause the ply-wood under the asbestos to rot. Or what if you don't even have ply-wood under???

I'm a believer if your gonna do it - do it right!

Message edited 3/20/2006 8:46:36 PM.

Re: Asbestos shingles

Posted by karacg

Posted by ThreeCats

I would take off both layers of siding!

You might have had a leak that cause the ply-wood under the asbestos to rot. Or what if you don't even have ply-wood under???

I'm a believer if your gonna do it - do it right!

Well most professionals and research will tell you that doing it "right" is to leave it be and side over it. That is the safest of all.

Re: Asbestos shingles

You have to be careful when rippin git off the house, I know the contractors will cover up the house. But sometimes neighbors get nuts and find ways to say they have been contaminated.

9 out 10 times they will go over the existing siding. Neither way is wrong, but Ive heard horror stories about removing existing abestos siding

Re: Asbestos shingles

We opted to go over the asbestos shingles with our siding.

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I took mine off. Basically most of the contractors I looked at said that they will not take it down and most of it came down to cost. Expensive to do and dispose of...although almost all played it off as it is good to have the extra layer of insulation and didn't discuss cost or being certified to do so..but if you are redoing a house and they are doing insulation I think that is enough and it is good stuff meant to do the job.

The contractor I used will only do the job, if he can take it off and does charge for the disposal (which I got waived as part of negotiation). The reason we decided to do so was that the contractor took pride in his work and he said when you don't take it down if the old shingle beneath will eventually begin to rot or fall down - it would make the siding look bad and he doesn't want that reflected in his work. It wasn't messy at all - or at least who I used did a great clean up job.

We really debated this all back and forth but the guy we used came recommended to us and we really liked his style. We did our siding in 2003 and have been very happy with his work. He just did my aunts house as well and she was very happy as well.

Re: Asbestos shingles

Hello my3bugs,

I was reading the thread on asbestos shingles and you mentioned how your contractor was conscientious in handling that. It's been a while, but do you remember his name? I'm in a similar situation now. Thank you for any information you could give me.

Mark