How To Tell If A Roof Has Asbestos

But fear not because we re on hand to inform you about how to identify asbestos in your garage roof.

How to tell if a roof has asbestos.

It isn t easy to identify asbestos especially if you don t know what it looks like. Asbestos was molded into many different shapes and sizes to fill different needs. It is virtually impossible for anyone but a trained professional with a high powered microscope to tell definitively whether a shingle contains asbestos. However asbestos fibers can cause serious lung and respiratory problems if inhaled.

Asbestos was used from the early 20s to the late 80s. Due to its microscopic size asbestos was usually mixed with other materials to create asbestos containing materials acm s. Determine the age of the building. Asbestos was only fully banned in the uk construction industry in 1999.

This type of roof can be quite easy to recognize as it usually has a green coloration and a striated texture. One of the most common materials containing asbestos fibers is attic and wall insulation. Since asbestos building materials cannot be easily spotted with the naked eye the best clue is to find out when the roof was actually built. For example sheets of asbestos were used to make up walls and slats of asbestos were created to serve as roof tiles.

This makes it very difficult to spot especially when it has been mixed to create cement. Asbestos flooring often has black mastic which is a type of adhesive on the back. But just because your insulation is old doesn t mean it is dangerous. You can t see it if the floor is intact but you can spot the black adhesive if some of the tiles have already popped off the floor.

This government guide contains a useful diagram to identify where asbestos may be present on your property. Tips to spot an asbestos garage roof. Some asbestos products contain identification marks making it easier for those with a trained eye to spot a contamination. In older homes specifically asbestos may be found in many different materials from pipe insulation to flooring adhesive to roof shingles.

How to identify asbestos. On roofs themselves asbestos cement can be frequently found in the form of panels gutters insulation roof shingles siding downpipes or the entire roof itself. It is made of a mix of cement and asbestos fibers and as the majority of the materials which contain asbestos it is only dangerous when damaged and in poor condition. You can t see or smell asbestos but exposure to loose fibers can cause lung disease such as mesothelioma asbestosis or lung cancer.

When was it built. The tiles may have asbestos too. The only reliable way to know if your home contains asbestos is to hire an environmental consulting firm or asbestos building inspector for asbestos testing. The mastic itself usually has asbestos in it.

When a building is quite old it has a good chance of having asbestos building materials.