Conference 7.286::home_work

    See notes 567 and 844 for asbestos info
    

    I have the same situation. A 200 year old house with asbestoes siding.
    I tlaked to a friend of mine who works for the Mass. DEQE, (Dept.
    of Environmental Eng). He told me that the siding is not a hazard
    if it is left alone. It does not give off the dust that the pipe
    covering does. If you remove it, that is when you have to be careful.
    I have no idea of what it would cost to remove and dispose of the
    shingles. Mass. does have regulations on this. You may want to call
    the DEQE or your local town office to find what the regulations
    are.
    
    I can't afford to remove it on fix the clapboards at this time so
    I covered the shingles with a coat of paint. Look pretty good and
    hold in any dust that might rub off.
    
    As for the condition of the clapboards, the only way to really tell
    is to lift some of the shingles and look at them.
    
    Let me know what you find out about removing the shingles, and what
    you clapboards look like.
    
    Mark

    We are in the process of removing our cement asbestos shingles.
    (110 year old house).  What we found underneath is the original
    clapboard in need of paint.  To dispose of the shingles we called
    a dumpster company, told them we were taking off the cement asbestos
    shingles and they delivered a dumpster.
    
    Doing this is a lot of work though.  The nails that hold the shingles
    on are very strong.  under the shingles we found silver paper stapled
    to the side of the house.  It took quite a while to get all of the
    staples out.
    
    The only place where we found rot was around one window where the
    seam wasn't tight between shingle and window trim.
    
    Scraping, sanding, priming, and painting is what we did to the
    clapboard.
    
    dcb

    I owned a house that had asbestos shingles.  Lacking the money to
    do
    anything else, I ended up painting the shingles.  There is one good
    advantage to those ugly shingles--the paint job lasts for years
    and years!  I painted the house 10 years ago and it looks as good
    as new, while the trim has been painted twice in the same amount
    of time and needs to be done again.

Re. .3, .5 - I'd be interested to know the color of your house. My 80
year-old asbestos-sided colonial is dark brown, and I'm considering
painting it a beige or pale-yellow. Any comments on how this might look ?

I believe that these shingles must be what (.4) refers to as 'cement asbestos
shingles'; They're very brittle and crack when hit by baseballs, etc. They
do not protrude from the house as much as shakes or clapboards, and light
colors on other cement-asbestos-sided homes which I've seen make the house
appear flat and dull-looking, but these houses haven't been painted for 10
or more years either, so I'm not sure if it's just the paint (these all seem
to be painted in light grey's or pastels) or the shingles.

Thanks for any opinions,
Russ

    My shingles were white with light green mixed in. One coat of barn
    red covered very nicely. Paint went on easily with a roller. I was
    surprised how quick I did the whole house.
    
    It was painted 3 years ago and it still looks good.
    
    Good luck
    Mark

    We also want to remove asbestos shingles, and have done a little
    research:
    
    Two houses on our block have had asbestos shingles removed.  Next
    door the clapboard was in good shape and looked gorgeous when painted
    -- for about one year.  Now the paint is badly peeling.  The building
    inspector opined when we bought our house that the owners put the
    shingles on because they couldn't keep a coat of paint on the house
    (we have clapboard underneath).  Two houses down the owner is removing
    asbestos shingles over wooden shingles; the wood underneath is also
    in god condition in most places.  He COULD NOT FIND anyone to remove
    the asbestos for him (because of worries about the dust) and he
    spent about a thousand bucks for special removal for the asbestos,
    in Mass anyway there are special regulations.
    	S.

    	Any guesses on why the clapboard peeled in one year?  Did they
    	fail to scrape it and/or sand it first?  I have the same condition,
    	cedar shingles covered over with asbestos siding.  There is
    	some thin black felt material seperating the two.  Is the
    	extra layer of siding providing any insulation?
    		Linda

    What type of paint would be best for asbestos siding, latex or oil
    base? Any recommendations?
    
    	Thnx in advance
    		Charlie

Thinking into the future, what do you do when this coat of paint 
starts to peel?  You certaily can't scrape/sand it.

    
    Power wash !!!!! I know what your thinking, ASBESTOS yuck. Supposedly
    this paint job will last a very long time on asbestos, providing
    I pick the right type. Any thoughts' on the longevity of an asbestos
    siding paint job...

    You're talking about the asbestos cement board stuff, right?  My
    guess is that either type of paint will work fine.  My old house
    had that stuff on it, painted with (I think) oil-base paint, and
    there was never any sign of peeling.
    
    n.b. my understanding is that the asbestos cement board isn't
    much of a problem because the asbestos fibers are bound up and
    don't tend to float around in the air.  

    My parents have asbestos siding they used latex 8 years ago and
    it still looks new the asbestos siding breaths better than wood
    does so peeling is non-existant. BTW-this was the first time theirs
    had been painted i.e. first coat.
    
    -j
    

    My neighbor painted his last year with Oil based (well, actually,
    the painter painted it, he's in his 70's and didn't want to do it
    himself)  The painter told him that he could expect it to look very
    good for about 10 years.  Since no moisture gets into that stuff,
    there's very little peeling.
    
    
    And the reply about this stuff not being dangerous is right.  The
    asbestos fibers are contained in the shingles, so there's almost
    no danger.  Unless you decide to grind it up!
    
    
    -bill

    My neighbor, a professional painter, prefers latex on asbestos siding.
    He said latex would look better than oil. We didn't get into any
    details.

    just don't put oil over latex as they expand/contract differently
    and the oil coat will fail.

    
    	Yes it is painted now but I have no idea what kind of paint
    it is as I just bought the house a couple of years ago.
    
    Is there a way to tell ?

>    Is there a way to tell ?

Have you looked around for old paint cans?

(Not being sarcastic - something I didn't think of at first, since the 
last owners weren't thoughtful about anything else - but there they 
were - 2 cans of paint to match the outside, in the back of the 
garage)

    
    Here's a trick.  Take a cotton swabb.  Dip it in rubbing alcohol.
     Rub it against the paint.  If the cotton turns the color of the
    paint, you have latex (water based) otherwise you have oil based
    paint.
    

    I have a Cape style home that is covered with Asbestos Shingles
    over the original wood. These shingles are thick 1/8" and easy to
    crack when working with them. These shingles have become discolored
    over the years due to everything. We want to paint or cover it.
    We already know that to remove it will be nothing but folks don't
    want to get involved with disposal of it, we've tried.
    
    My Question:
    
    	**Is there a paint that will cover these shingles well 
    	  (medium-dark gray) and last for a while? 
    
    	**Anyone know if the shingles can be covered with vinly siding
    	  sucessfully? Are there any companies that service Western
    	  Mass that will guarentee their work? 
    
    Awaiting your replies.
    
    Amy McGrory

    
    I have painted asbestos shingles on my last house, I used an ordinary
    latex paint and a painting pad instead of a brush. My shigles were
    also gray, and I covered it with brown. The last time I drove by
    the old place it still looks good, thats 14 years ago. 
    
    As for covering the asbestos siding with vinyl, my brother-inlaw
    is currently doing the same thing on his place, I haven't seen it
    yet but it should go OK. If I can get in touch with him I'll let
    you know of any difficulties he experienced.
    
    My $0.02
    
    Dick
    

    Let's keep:
    
    - discussions of painting asbestos shingles in 2433
    
    - recommendations for siding contractors in 2025
    
    - discussions of covering asbestos shingles with vinyl siding here
    
    I changed the topic title (from "HELP for Asbestos siding needed.") to
    reflect the topic's new, narrower purpose.
    
    				DCL, moderator

    .0:
    
    I'd think that you might wind up with lots of little chunks of shingle
    on the ground, as each nail cracks a shingle;  but as I've never played
    with either asbestos shingles or vinyl siding, this is just a guess.
    
    Dick

    A few years ago, my dad had his house sided by a general contractor
    who said he couldn't side over asbestos shingles.  We ended up having
    to take them off in order to have it sided.  All we did was whack
    'em with a hammer and off they came.  There was no need to pound
    the nails in, as the foam board insulation would cover them. 
    
    (This was prior to asbestos being harzardous, so I'd recommend
    taking proper precautions, etc.)
    

  I've heard it both ways:

    1.  You can't put vinyl siding over asbestos siding because of the hazardous
        dust particles that will be created when you nail through the asbestos.

    and,


    2.  That its no problem.


   In any event, I'd check with the local BI to make sure that thats ok in
   "his" town.

       

                     Asbestos shingle replacement


    I am in the process of selling a home that has asbestos siding on it. 
 Some/majority on the bottom rows of shingles have been chipped and some 
 in the middle of the exterior walls have been broken. Here are the questions.


    Job?: How tough a job is it for a do it yourselfer to replace these things.
          They seem brittle and while removing the bad ones will i have a 
          problem with cracking the good ones. Tips?

    Nailing?: What kind of nails are needed .

    Cutting?: How about cutting these things to size, what kind of tool is 
           needed

    Suppliers?:
              Anyone know off hand if there are suppliers in the Fitchburg/
              Leominster area for these shingles.

    For cutting and punching nail holes, most rental places (Taylor, etc.)
    have a tool that works like a guillotine to cut the shingles and punch
    out the holes for the nails. It does a very clean job with no dust. Its
    called (as if you couldn't guess) an asbestos shingle cutter.
    
    Eric

    My advice:
    
    forget about it and go to the cape for the weekend 8^)
    
    fra

    4 years ago i had my house vinyl sided.  The existing siding was
    asbestos shingles.  The siding applicator wanted to go over the
    old shingles.  I wanted them removed from the house because i knew
    what would happen if pilot holes were not drilled when the siding
    was applied.  The shingles will crack, fall and create bulges under
    the vinyl if they are not removed or if pilot holes are not drilled.
         
    Another reason for having them removed, is that i had blown in insul
    ation put in prior to siding.
    
    Mike
    

    My sister's house was covered with vinyl siding (over asbestos)
    about five years ago.  There did not seem to be any problems.  I
    am not a big fan of vinly siding (when compared to cedar clapboards),
    but I must admit that the vinyl is far superior in appearance to
    the asbestos.
    
    I would imagine that covering your asbestos shakes with vinyl is
    also a much cheaper alternative than paying for hazardous waste
    disposal.
    
    Chuck

	Does anyone know how to cut asbestos siding? I believe this
stuff is asbestos, let me describe it.  The siding is 24" by 12",
very hard and brittle, predrilled for the nail holes, at least 25
years old.  I don't think they sell this stuff anymore. 

	I only have a few extra pieces so I can't experiment with 
different cutting methods. Should I use a jigsaw, hacksaw or just
scribe them ? I have to cut these pieces lengthwise.

 Thanks for the help.
Rick LaBak 

    Well I guess I should have done my homework first. Note 3375 suggests
    to rent a cutter from Taylor Rental or go to the Cape instead. All
    I need to do is replace 3 pieces.  Do I need to rent a cutter for
    3 pieces?  Maybe I should go to the cape, I hear the waters great
    this time of year.
                                                               
    Rick L.
                                           

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Paul [Moderator]

    I have an old victorian with an asbestos roof.  I have lost
    some of the shingles (not the conventional shape shingle)
    I know there are many restrictions on these roofs, have
    decided to try to repair the thing myself. 
    
    Anyone out there know where I can buy or "acquire" some
    asbestos shingles????
    
    Respond to buffer::racine
    
    Thanks,
    Carol

    about 6 months ago I was looking for asbestos shingles myself.  I asked
    a contracting friend if he knew where to buy some and he told me:
    
              Commonwealth Lumber in malden mass.
    
    I never called because I found some in my basement but if they do have
    asbestos shingles in stock, please post it here.
    
    thanks,
    Joe

    
    
    	I have a bunch of shingles I removed last year you can have for
        free.  Many of them were not damaged when removed and already 
    	have the holes in them.  If interested, contact me off line.