What Does Old Asbestos Siding Look Like

Layers of paint or finish coatings.

What does old asbestos siding look like.

The front may have a grainy sandy texture. Look for siding that looks like roof shingles. The vermiculate look like popcorn and many of you might remember your old high school science lab with this material. It is very brittle and has a black tar paper like backing.

The original shingles of both asbestos cement and fiber cement usually come from the factory painted white on one side. Asbestos roofing mastics often contained asbestos fibers and asbestos was a major ingredient in cement asbestos slate look alike products or roof tiles or cement asbestos roof shingles. It is part of the serpentine family whilst all other types of asbestos are part of the amphibole family. Testing your siding for asbestos if your siding fits either of these descriptions you should consider having it tested.

Chrysotile was the most widely used asbestos and is commonly referred to as white asbestos. The front appears with a grainy sandy like texture. Asbestos siding usually looks a lot like roof shingles. Look for asbestos cement shingles a mixture of asbestos fibers and cement or asbestos cement corrugated roofing which is thicker and more often found on old sheds barns and low income housing.

Asbestos ceiling tiles are also comonly used. Asbestos siding was manufactured to resemble many materials so it won t always look the same. Asbestos cement can be dangerous if pulverized by sawing sanding breaking etc. Asbestos ceilings can be found in many forms which include asbestos fibre cement sheet fibro vermiculite spray applied ceilings.

Asbestos cement siding is very brittle and can be easily chipped cracked or broken. The use of a pressure washer for maintenance can crack the siding and lead to moisture intrusion if the pressure setting is high enough. The siding may also contain asbestos if it is old with a wood grain texture to resemble cedar. Unfortunately asbestos siding was originally designed to mimic many different types of materials.

It is usually brittle and the back may be black and have the appearance of tar paper. Owners often painted cement asbestos shingle siding to make it look fresh or if it was weathered and fuzzy to preserve it. These shingles are generally 12 by 24 inches and the bottom tends to have a wave like pattern though that is not always the case.