Old Roof Shingles Asbestos

Asphalt shingles usually contain small amounts of asbestos.

Old roof shingles asbestos. If they look old they might have asbestos fibers in them. Shingles made with asbestos are only expected to last for 30 years. When you remove those shingles they will either come off when you pull out the nails require you to snap them off or require you to cut them. The most common and least expensive solution is to leave the original asbestos shingles in place and remove only the aluminum siding.

Corrugated cement panels were used for a short period of time as they break quite easily. Johns manville corporation who began manufacturing asbestos containing roofing products in the late 1800s manufactured asbestos asphalt roofing shingles further described as asphalt impregnated asbestos fiberglass reinforced shingles from 1907 to 1979 that contained between 35 and 50 asbestos epa 1990d. Determine when the shingles were installed on your roof. History asbestos shingle history begins with inventor and entrepreneur ludwig hatschek who was born in the czech republic on october 9 1856.

Asbestos shingles are relatively strong but brittle. It should be remembered that the danger arises once the cement layer starts to disintegrate and the asbestos fibers surface. Regardless of roof style almost all petroleum based roofing materials once contained deadly asbestos fibers. In reality while asbestos was commonly used in many asphalt roofing materials asbestos was rarely used in the shingles themselves.

This way you ll avoid the hazardous dust created by tearing the shingles off. Instead cover the shingles with polystyrene foam insulation panels then hang the new vinyl siding using 2 in long nails. Asbestos took off as a choice roofing product in the early 1900s. Asbestos cement shingles can be removed safely without costly teams of abatement professionals.

If you don t know the age of the shingles inspect them for wear. For decades asbestos roof shingles were considered an invaluable resource offering a superior inexpensive alternative to traditional roof coverings. You can t drive screws and nails through them without pre drilling. Roofing materials widely varied as well.

Flat roofs often chose tar with gravel stones while pitched roofs used layered asphalt shingles. This would trigger dust and asbestos dust is a problem as i ve mentioned. Covering old asbestos shingles with new siding may seem like an option too but it s not easy to do safely. However there are many that have lasted as long as 50 years and are still in good condition.

Their width can range from 12 to 48 inches and are very simple to identify since asbestos fibers can be seen on the grained sections of the material.