Our house was built in 1912, well before Asbestos was in popular use (as early as 1920s but popular 1940-1980).
We knew we had Asbestos on site because we have a Fibro back shed but it was a little alarming where else we had Fibro sheeting around the house.
We thought this patio roof was Masonite. Nope. Fibro sheeting. Luckily we didn't go drilling holes in that one for a new light.
The wooden panels in our staircase? You guessed it. Fibro sheeting. The obvious panel above the heating grate - that's not Fibro, that's chip board.
This bathroom wall? Probably Fibro sheeting. Probably with Asbestos fibres because of the age of the bathroom renovation.
Asbestos in any property older than about 1985 can be hard to identify. A friend of mine is renting a townhouse around the corner. I would've guessed it was a 1980s townhouse but it was renovated in the 1980s from a 1960s original. Full of Asbestos sheeting. The kitchen walls are Asbestos sheeting as they found out after a builder had been fixing their walls, filling their house with dust as he was sawing away. My friend, her partner and their kids were all helping sweep away the mess when they realised it was Asbestos.
Fibro sheeting in good condition is fine. The Hazard Report guy said you can even carefully sand Fibro sheeting to paint provided you don't get down to the Asbestos fibres, but drilling, sawing and cutting is not a good idea.
We have a ceiling made from Masonite in the kitchen and without being told I couldn't tell the difference between that and the Fibro sheeting over the patio. The thing is, our house might have been built before the era of Asbestos but it was fixed up and repaired when it was the go to safety product for all right-minded renovators.
9 comments:
O noes, sympathies. I'm a little worried about the back of our place, some of the walls look highly suspect.
Scary stuff, isn't it? Makes you shudder a little bit.
Evil, evil stuff. I'm pleased that you now know where it is. Do you feel like you should mark it all with a giant red X to ensure that no one ever forgets?
Bloody hell. Asbestos hell your joint. I quite like Tracey's comment - it is a good idea to do that me thinks.
But what does this all mean? Like, do you have to get it removed stat by an Asbestos SWAT team or leave it untouched so as not to disturb it? It's going to cost money isn't it? I sense it in my waters.
Like Stompergirl, I want to know, now that you've identified it, how do you go about getting RID of it?
Getting rid of it means employing specialist Asbestos removers. As we are about to renovate the Fibro sheeting will all be removed while we are demolishing walls elsewhere.
It won't, of course, be cheap.
And yes, Tracey, I do feel like marking it all with a big RED X.
Good luck with the renovation and getting rid of the asbestos!
Far out...between the roof and the asbestos, I'm surprised I've survived visits to your place.
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