Cleaning Old Asbestos Siding

Posted by 517 at 11 22 am on may 19 2007.

Cleaning old asbestos siding.

Scraping or brushing off old paint from asbestos siding is necessary before repainting but dangerous because it can release small asbestos fibres. Lay tarp down or weed barrier to catch any flaking wear masks then paint with any good. Mix one part bleach and three parts water and spray the growth. Asbestos was used frequently from the beginning of the 20th century in a variety of building materials.

This means you need to be careful and take your time. Take your soft brush and use it along the siding to remove the dust or chalk that you want to clean. I have been told not to power wash asbestos shingles just use tsp lightly scrub and rinse off with hose. Once the surface is prepped and cleaned there s really no difference when it comes to painting asbestos siding than any similar fiber cement or hardiboard siding.

Since asbestos is only dangerous when it is in a friable state you will remove the paint without sanding or scraping. Do not overload the bags creating the danger of bursting open during handling or disposal. The choice is yours as far as whether you want to spray or roll the paint on. Often since asbestos siding holds paint so well there won t be any but if there is it you must remove it before you can repaint.

Remove any biological growth such as moss and fungus from the surface of the siding. Although asbestos is no. If you prefer to use a soft cloth to handle the debris wet it and wipe the siding until it is clean and once again rinse with the hose. Never use a hard or abrasive brush to clean cement fiber siding.

Then rinse with the hose. Within a week you can come back and simply brush the moss or fungus off the surface. The fibers are less likely to become airborne if moist. Asbestos cement siding is very brittle and can be easily chipped cracked or broken.

Your are able to pressure wash but you must use a lower pressure setting in order not to chip or damage the siding and release dangerous asbestos fibers into the air. This means that you ll have to take some extra time cleaning and prepping the siding before painting and rely instead on a garden hose sponges and good old fashioned elbow grease. Use a water blaster for the large pieces and allow the siding to dry thoroughly. Just paint the siding and seal the asbestos in.

Double knot each bag. The approach of removing the old shingles and replacing them with new siding is an option that many homeowners have pursued though probably not as safely as they should. Clean up for something like this could cost even more money. The bleach will kill the organic matter.

Moisten the asbestos siding with a hose.