What Do Asbestos Siding Shingles Look Like

A brief history of asbestos cement siding.

What do asbestos siding shingles look like.

Asbestos cement is a mixture of portland cement reinforced with asbestos fibers. Most likely the shingles are in two sizes 12 inch or 24 inch. Asbestos shingles are relatively strong but brittle. If the asbestos material is in good shape and will not be disturbed do nothing.

You can t drive screws and nails through them without pre drilling. Asbestos shingles were so common during the 20th century that almost any shingles installed between 1920 and 1986 probably include asbestos. Covering old asbestos shingles with new siding may seem like an option too but it s not easy to do safely. The portland cement binds asbestos fibers into a hard mass.

Asbestos cement was first developed in 1905 by the johns manville company who became one of the premier manufacturers of cement asbestos materials. Photo guide to cement asbestos wall shingles or siding products. If they look old they might have asbestos fibers in them. Determine when the shingles were installed on your roof.

The best method for determining if a substance contains. It is usually brittle and the back may be black and have the appearance of tar paper. Old asbestos siding tiles may also have a wood grain texture like cedar. This would trigger dust and asbestos dust is a problem as i ve mentioned.

If you don t know the age of the shingles inspect them for wear. Testing for positive id. Asbestos siding was manufactured to resemble many materials so it won t always look the same. This is the wavy edge asbestos cement shingle siding product.

In this photo of a house in new york state we can see both original cement asbestos wall shingles and newer fiber cement replacement wall shingles that do not contain asbestos. The bottom of an asbestos siding tile may have a wave like pattern though not always. The front may have a grainy sandy texture.