How Is Asbestos Siding Made

Most siding companies are well experienced at techniques for covering over existing asbestos cement siding with new vinyl aluminum or fiber cement siding.

How is asbestos siding made. The issue here is asbestos and the risks of serious lung diseases it can cause. Asbestos siding removal isn t free but if you re having it replaced with something else you just might be able to get a good deal with the company you end up choosing. Asbestos siding was made by adding asbestos a naturally occurring mineral to portland cement. Because fiber cement siding manufactured in north america after around 1978 was made without using asbestos in those later products and because those non asbestos fiber cement shingles included products that by eye were an exact visual match for their older asbestos containing brothers and sisters already installed a building built.

It is virtually impossible for anyone but a trained professional with a high powered microscope to tell definitively whether a shingle contains asbestos. And make no mistake asbestos is dangerous. Asbestos is an excellent electrical insulator and is highly heat. æ s ˈ b ɛ s t ə s or æ s ˈ b ɛ s t ɒ s is a term used to refer to six naturally occurring silicate minerals all are composed of long and thin fibrous crystals each fibre being composed of many microscopic fibrils that can be released into the atmosphere by abrasion and other processes.

Roofing and siding shingles are among the most common materials to contain asbestos and will readily release fibers into the air if broken. If a siding company removes an outer layer of siding and finds an older layer of asbestos cement siding beneath the standard procedure is simply to cover it over with new siding rather. Older style cement siding shingles were traditionally made by mixing asbestos into the cement in order to fireproof and strengthen siding. The reported costs for such projects range from 500 to 4 500 while the typical cost for asbestos siding removal is generally between 1 000 and 2 500.

Asbestos was also put into cement used on the exterior of buildings to help insulate the. As the experts at asbestos siding note it is sometimes difficult to spot because it was often manufactured to resemble different types of siding in a variety of colors and textures. Asbestos siding was very commonly used in buildings and homes from around the 1920s until the 1980s and can still be found in many older homes in the u s. However there are ways you can determine whether it is likely that your shingles contain asbestos.

However asbestos fibers can cause serious lung and respiratory problems if inhaled. Even a single airborne fiber of the most dangerous types of asbestos can eventually cause a particular form of lung cancer if inhaled. Both the epa and the vinyl siding institute recommend not disturbing asbestos if at all possible. It s pretty serious but according to health canada one of the world s leading sources of unbiased information on the subject if.

Asbestos was used to make several exterior materials.