What Does Old Asbestos Siding Look Like

Owners often painted cement asbestos shingle siding to make it look fresh or if it was weathered and fuzzy to preserve it.

What does old asbestos siding look like.

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. The original shingles of both asbestos cement and fiber cement usually come from the factory painted white on one side. These products use asbestos with a binder of portland cement. It is part of the serpentine family whilst all other types of asbestos are part of the amphibole family.

Asbestos cement siding is very brittle and can be easily chipped cracked or broken. Layers of paint or finish coatings. The front may have a grainy sandy texture. It is very brittle and has a black tar paper like backing.

It was commonly used in a range of materials from brake pads to roofing materials. The use of a pressure washer for maintenance can crack the siding and lead to moisture intrusion if the pressure setting is high enough. 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 usually brittle and the back may be black and have the appearance of tar paper.

The vermiculate look like popcorn and many of you might remember your old high school science lab with this material. The front appears with a grainy sandy like texture. Chrysotile was the most widely used asbestos and is commonly referred to as white asbestos. 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.

Asbestos ceiling tiles are also comonly used. Look for siding that looks like roof shingles. 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.

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 siding usually looks a lot like roof shingles.