Old Asbestos Roof Shingles

The asphalt shingle became the preferred roofing choice.

Old asbestos roof shingles.

Asbestos siding in particular however has a tendency to chip crack and break with normal wear and tear of family life. Asbestos shingles were so common during the 20th century that almost any shingles installed between 1920 and 1986 probably include asbestos. Do you have asbestos in your home. Only a trained professional can tell for sure if your shingles contain asbestos.

If you don t know the age of the shingles inspect them for wear. The most common and least expensive solution is to leave the original asbestos shingles in place and remove only the aluminum siding. This way you ll avoid the hazardous dust created by tearing the shingles off. 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.

Asbestos cement shingles can be removed safely without costly teams of abatement professionals. Rarely if ever will they need to be cut and cutting is the one activity that creates hazardous dust. Instead cover the shingles with polystyrene foam insulation panels then hang the new vinyl siding using 2 in long nails. Many asbestos roofs and siding are damaged cracked or broken.

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. If they look old they might have asbestos fibers in them.