Asbestos Siding Vs Cement Fiber Siding

It is very durable and can be painted or stained.

Asbestos siding vs cement fiber siding.

Asbestos is a mineral and cement sheets or fibro are materials that are useful as building materials and are made up of asbestos and cement mixture. Older style cement siding shingles were traditionally made by mixing asbestos into the cement in order to fireproof and strengthen siding. As the experts at asbestos siding note it is sometimes difficult to spot because it was often manufactured to resemble different types of siding in a variety of colors and textures. Very hard to cut and work with.

Because fiber cement siding manufactured in north america after around 1978 was made without using asbestos in those later products and because those non asbestos fiber cement shingles included products that by eye were an exact visual match for their older asbestos containing brothers and sisters already installed a building built before 1978 and sided with cementious shingles may contain a mix of both asbestos containing and non asbestos containing cementious shingles. Since asbestos was included as an additive when siding was manufactured for many decades the odds are good that original shingle siding on holder homes may contain asbestos. Manufacturers use asbestos in fiber cement siding although some of the earlier versions of fiber cement siding did indeed have some asbestos particles blended in fiber cement was actually designed to replace the asbestos siding products to create a safer environment for the installers and the home s residents. These materials are known as fiber cement siding and they contain no asbestos.

One thing that should be noted is that when asbestos fibers are inert intact and encapsulated in cement siding as is most often the case it poses absolutely no health risk. I have had many houses built with fiber cement and have never seen any delaminating in 8 years. Silica dust is a danger to those cutting and installing the product if they do not use the right tools. There is no legal requirement to do so nor is there significant real estate benefit.

Fiber cement siding was manufactured as a replacement for asbestos siding which was popular for its attributes of being fire retardant and rot and insect proof. Cementitious siding installed after 1973 is very unlikely to contain asbestos. Some evidence of delaminating or gapping. The key difference between asbestos and cement sheet is that asbestos is a naturally occurring silicate mineral whereas cement sheet is an artificially made building material.

Cement asbestos siding tiles do not need to be removed simply because they contain asbestos. Identifying asbestos siding is a major concern for many homeowners with older homes that have cement siding.