Is There Asbestos In Slate Roofs

Since asbestos building materials cannot be easily spotted with the naked eye the best clue is to find out when the roof was actually built.

Is there asbestos in slate roofs.

Some people will call cementitious shingles slate and those can be asbestos. He also states that the slates are in reasonable condition. There is usually underlying. There are two parts to a slate roof.

There is more information about asbestos roofs in the slate roof bible. Health safety concerns related to the removal of asbestos containing roofs. Asbestos siding in particular however has a tendency to chip crack and break with normal wear and tear of family life. It is not unreasonable to expect 100 years from a properly maintained asbestos roof.

However many states still require a licensed abatement contract to handle this material in approved ways. When a building is quite old it has a good chance of having asbestos building materials. What happened before the 1980s most artificial roofing slate was made from asbestos cement a material that had a long track record of successful performance. Many asbestos roofs and siding are damaged cracked or broken.

Corrugated cement our least favorite acm to encounter. The asbestos fibers inside slates can only be released when they are broken and this roofing material does not necessarily require removal although many people choose to do it. If true slate the shingles are not asbestos. Asbestos was banned in 1989 so as the buildings that incorporated it age their roofing and siding will fall into disrepair.

Determine the age of the building. Their color ranges between grey light green peachy orange and even purple. Asbestos shingles were valued for being fireproof especially among those living in turn of the century communities where fire spread was a common concern. The asbestos fibers are contained inside the slate and cannot be released unless broken.

When the use of asbestos became forbidden manufacturers rushed to replace asbestos containing products with cement based products reinforced with non asbestos materials. There are at least three types of asbestos shingles. Asbestos was used from the early 20s to the late 80s. While not able to match the endurance of slate asbestos shingles were expected to last a minimum of 30 years enhancing their desirability.