Asbestos was added to plaster and drywall products for a number of reasons ranging from fire proofing to noise absorption.
Identifying asbestos what does asbestos siding look like.
Look for a siding that is made to look like roof shingles.
Step 3 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.
It is usually brittle and the back may be black and have the appearance of tar paper.
Asbestos siding usually looks a lot like roof shingles.
It can be extremely difficult to identify asbestos in plaster and plasterboard without laboratory testing.
Asbestos siding was manufactured to resemble many materials so it won t always look the same.
These contacts can be found on the internet.
That said if your house was renovated prior to 1980 the drywall edging or texture compound might contain asbestos.
It is very brittle and has a black tar paper like backing.
Asbestos was particularly prevalent in siding that resembles shingles or was made to look like wood grain.
Unfortunately asbestos siding was originally designed to mimic many different types of materials.
The front may have a grainy sandy texture.
If you need to be sure bring in a consultant that is uniquely qualified to identify asbestos.
This includes vinyl floor tiling and floor tile fixing glue.
If your siding has these characteristics then asbestos could be present.
Serpentine asbestos is made up of curly fibres within sheets of crystals.
Look for siding that looks like roof shingles.
You may choose to take a sample of siding from a damaged area of siding.
Consult someone experienced in identifying asbestos.
In order to identify asbestos and know what asbestos looks like we need to understand the mineral.
It is generally very brittle and the back may be black and have the appearance of tar paper.
Below is an examples of plaster containing asbestos which looks much like non asbestos plaster.
The term asbestos actually refers to six unique minerals divided into two family groups serpentine and amphibole.
If you are in question assume that the material is asbestos.
Occasionally carpet underlay is found to contain asbestos.
These products use asbestos with a binder of portland cement.
Floor tiles and carpet underlay.
Recognizing siding with asbestos asbestos siding was manufactured to resemble many different materials so it doesn t always look the same.
Roofing adhesives roofing felt and base flashing also might include asbestos.
Asbestos drywall was more prevalent in commercial buildings.
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.
