Asbestos or Asbestos Cement Sheets

[IANTO]

Is there a way of telling the difference between Asbestos and Asbestos Cement Sheets, simply by looking at them?

I may be wrong, but my understanding that one is much more dangerous than the other.

Any constructive comments appreciated.

 

[topground]

Is there a way of telling the difference between Asbestos and Asbestos Cement Sheets, simply by looking at them?

I may be wrong, but my understanding that one is much more dangerous than the other.

Any constructive comments appreciated.

As far as I am aware the asbestos fibres provide the means by which concrete (cement), which is strong in compression but week in tension, can be formed into sheets.The fibres provide the reinforcing to make the sheets stronger in tension. By this reasoning there is no such thing as an asbestos sheet. Asbestos insulation is another nasty without as much cement but that was not your question.
Assume therefore that your sheets contain asbestos so don't generate any dust from them.

 

[Agri Design]

Or do you mean is there a way to tell the difference between Asbestos Cement Sheets and fibre cement sheets.

David

 

[IANTO]

Or do you mean is there a way to tell the difference between Asbestos Cement Sheets and fibre cement sheets.

David

Honest answer. I don't know.

A Garage attached to a house has a "grey" corrugated roof. Built 20+ years ago.

Estate and Letting Agents take one look, and say "Asbestos", although I doubt whether they know exactly what it is.

A Boiler-house, Toilet and Store, next to the Garage, has a ceiling of flat "Grey" sheets approx. 7m thick.

Again according to the Estate and Letting Agent, asbestos.

Apparently will cost a small fortune to dispose of, using specialist contractors.

 

[grumpy]

Honest answer. I don't know.

A Garage attached to a house has a "grey" corrugated roof. Built 20+ years ago.

Estate and Letting Agents take one look, and say "Asbestos", although I doubt whether they know exactly what it is.

A Boiler-house, Toilet and Store, next to the Garage, has a ceiling of flat "Grey" sheets approx. 7m thick.

Again according to the Estate and Letting Agent, asbestos.

Apparently will cost a small fortune to dispose of, using specialist contractors.

go and jump on roof if you go through and die yup asbestos,if you don't fibre cement.

 

[IANTO]

go and jump on roof if you go through and die yup asbestos,if you don't fibre cement.

If that is the test, I might try it.

Only question is, will I die quickly from the fall, or slowly from inhalation of Asbestos?

 

[Lincsman]

There is a date when new sheets were all made asbestos free, not sure what it is but around the late 1980's

 

[grumpy]

If that is the test, I might try it.

Only question is, will I die quickly from the fall, or slowly from inhalation of Asbestos?

asbestos sheets are safe enough but would certainly use a face mask when cutting them they are very brittle fibre cement has way more tensile strength,blue asbestos cladding is the lethal stuff.

 

[spanners]

You might be able to hire an asbestos skip locally and fill it yourself, Although a pikey with a hammer may be cheaper

 

[Cowcalf]

Only costs in the region of £200 a ton to dispose, easy for you to remove and stack on pallets. They like you to wear one piece suit and masks and spray it with water ( to reduce the dust ) but a lot of us spend a large part of the day with roofs of the same material at varying heights above our heads

 

[Goweresque]

You can send a sample off to various companies online who will test it to see if it contains actual asbestos, or a more modern fibre substitute. People like these:

http://www.asbestostestingkits.co.uk/asbestos-testing/

Never used them myself, been planning to check what the material is on a shed I have that was built in the late 80s, so on the cusp so to speak.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Would 12 year old be the safe stuff ,

 

[grumpy]

Would 12 year old be the safe stuff ,

jump on it with two 56lbs in each hand,just need walt then my work is done.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Shed will be pulled down when I get to see it this week , can I tell by any broken bits

 

[Forever Fendt]

Would 12 year old be the safe stuff ,[/quote ] It should be stamped on under lap maker,date and material f/c or a/c make sure you net it when fitting gives no warning and your through

 

[Heathland]

Bought s/h shed 3yrs ago and the guy who took it down for me said you could tell if it was asbestos because it has white flecks
in it.The shed i bought was fibre cement big 6 and its dull grey no white flecks.

 

[IANTO]

Done some more digging and found the following, which may be of interest to others.

http://www.aic.org.uk/asbestos_cement.htm

I suspect I am dealing with Asbestos Cement.

 

[llamedos]

If it isn't damaged then leave it, it is only when damage occurs it releases the fibres.

 

[suffolksmallholder]

The guidelines state that breaking it into pieces should be avoided. The usual method is to get a sample tested and what you do next is then dictated by the findings. Unfortunately the costs of disposal have risen in the last couple of years When I was dealing with tons the cost was about £100 per ton.

Your local skip hire firm will give you good advice (cynics will say that it is in their interests to take the business but it is the government who take the biggest percentage costs, the skip people are only hauling the material), again prices were around £600 for an ordinary sized skip. If the tests come back as cement it makes good roadways!

There will be a guide for your area on google. As a 'farmer' IANTO you are in the lucky position, if this is on one of your many pieces of land, that you can take it to the tip yourself, providing the tractor is registered to you. Now I've done that and got the tickets too to prove that I did the job correctly. Unfortunately the tip is now at Ipswich which is a five hour tractor run so I won't be doing that again.

I think year 2000 is the cut off from any sheet having white asbestos in and then only at 10%
SS

 

[Mydexta]

At our local tip it is £168 per ton to dump, minimum 2 tons. Plus you have the skip hire plus you have to pay roughly £25 to sepa for a form which is to be carried when taking it to landfill