Old Asbestos Roof Shingles

Only a trained professional can tell for sure if your shingles contain asbestos.

Old asbestos roof shingles.

Rarely if ever will they need to be cut and cutting is the one activity that creates hazardous dust. Many asbestos roofs and siding are damaged cracked or broken. If they look old they might have asbestos fibers in them. While asbestos based roofing shingles and siding were still available their popularity had waned drastically well before the federal ban of the product in 1989.

Asbestos siding in particular however has a tendency to chip crack and break with normal wear and tear of family life. Asbestos was banned in 1989 so as the buildings that incorporated it age their roofing and siding will fall into disrepair. 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. 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. The most common and least expensive solution is to leave the original asbestos shingles in place and remove only the aluminum siding. Asbestos cement shingles can be removed safely without costly teams of abatement professionals. The asphalt shingle became the preferred roofing choice.

For decades asbestos roof shingles were considered an invaluable resource offering a superior inexpensive alternative to traditional roof coverings. History asbestos shingle history begins with inventor and entrepreneur ludwig hatschek who was born in the czech republic on october 9 1856.