Exterior constructions asbestos and wood. Thumbs down? (houses, water heater)

[CaroleF]

What would be made of asbestos in a listing that says it is part of the exterior construction? Siding?

How dangerous would it be? How would you resolve it?

[travelguy_73]

The concrete asbestos shingle was a popular siding material back in the day. Our house was built in the 1930s, with an exterior of brick (first floor) and concrete asbestos (second floor) covering the original cedar shingles.

Here's the deal: The makeup of these are about 5% asbestos. They are perfectly fine if left alone, and these shingles last a really long time (ours were installed in the 1950s I think). As long as you aren't grinding them up, or breaking them and breathing it in, you are fine. They take paint really well, and pretty much fire-proof.

On the downside, they break easily. We had a number of them break during Ike (tree limbs hitting them), but thankfully our contractor found new concrete tiles (like Hardiplank) at Olshan's that match perfectly.

I would worry FAR more about lead paint than I ever would about asbestos shingles.

[Poltracker]

Ditto what Travelguy said. Nothing wrong with asbestos siding, it is actually a good, long lasting, product. Most of the houses in my neighborhood (late 50's construction) have at least some if not all asbestos siding. The asbestos in siding is non-friable and should not be compared to things like asbestos insulation which is a whole differnt bag o beans.

[TexasVines]

here is REALITY

thanks to the global HEALTH CARE BILL brought to us by obongo ANY home built before 1978 must have an inspection done for lead before any renovation, improvement, repair (including things like water heaters), or sale

so your home is going to be thoroughly inspected for lead and they will also 100% positively note the asbestos as well

as was previously said the asbestos in siding is much different than things like pipe wrap.....but once progressive hypsters get done with ANY issue the dis-information is pretty much impossible to over come

so...

your asbestos will be noted and known, you need to concern yourself with any lead paint that is exposed and needs to be "abated", and we all need to concern ourselves with global nanny-ism

[travelguy_73]

Originally Posted by TexasVines

here is REALITY

thanks to the global HEALTH CARE BILL brought to us by obongo ANY home built before 1978 must have an inspection done for lead before any renovation, improvement, repair (including things like water heaters), or sale

so your home is going to be thoroughly inspected for lead and they will also 100% positively note the asbestos as well

as was previously said the asbestos in siding is much different than things like pipe wrap.....but once progressive hypsters get done with ANY issue the dis-information is pretty much impossible to over come

so...

your asbestos will be noted and known, you need to concern yourself with any lead paint that is exposed and needs to be "abated", and we all need to concern ourselves with global nanny-ism

Am I correctly inpretting your comment to mean that anyone with asbestos or lead paint inside the home will need to have it abated before they can realistically sell it? Or just disclose, like we have to do now?

Do you have a link or proof to share with us?

Given the incredible number of homes in the US that have one or the other, or both, this would be a game-changer for those with old homes (and not just really old homes, but semi-old homes). That doesn't make sense to me.

[RCH99]

The rules on how these issues are handled have just recently changed radically. If concerned, you should conduct your own research. The lead paint issue, in particular, now requires a "certified abatement" professional to handle. The fines and punishment for non-compliance are staggering from the information that I have read. I apologize for not citing a link, but I'm posting from my phone.

It's very much worthy of researching current policy, however.

[mikeyyc]

Does the foil hat stop the majority of the signals "they" are trying to get you with?

[travelguy_73]

Originally Posted by RCH99

The rules on how these issues are handled have just recently changed radically. If concerned, you should conduct your own research. The lead paint issue, in particular, now requires a "certified abatement" professional to handle. The fines and punishment for non-compliance are staggering from the information that I have read. I apologize for not citing a link, but I'm posting from my phone.

It's very much worthy of researching current policy, however.

That's very interesting. I can't even begin to how expensive it would be to abate a large home full of lead paint (every wall and piece of trim). I googled a bit but didn't come up with anything. but I might not be using the right terms, so if those of you "in the know" would like to share links, that would be appreciated.

Since the OP is speaking about the exterior shingles, we are taking this a bit off topic, but it is interesting nonetheless.

[RCH99]

Originally Posted by mikeyyc

Does the foil hat stop the majority of the signals "they" are trying to get you with?

Is that ^ really, absolutely, the best you have?

[mikeyyc]

Nowhere near.