Cleaning Old Asbestos Siding

Moisten the asbestos siding with a hose.

Cleaning old asbestos siding.

In the 1970s the public learned what the asbestos industry had known for 60 years that asbestos is highly toxic and that inhaling its fibers can cause lung scarring lung cancer and mesothelioma. Mix one part bleach and three parts water and spray the growth. Double knot each bag. Clean up for something like this could cost even more money.

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. Asbestos was used frequently from the beginning of the 20th century in a variety of building materials. Although asbestos is no. Just paint the siding and seal the asbestos in.

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 you need to be careful and take your time. Scraping or brushing off old paint from asbestos siding is necessary before repainting but dangerous because it can release small asbestos fibres. Use a water blaster for the large pieces and allow the siding to dry thoroughly.

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. Lay tarp down or weed barrier to catch any flaking wear masks then paint with any good. Then rinse with the hose. The choice is yours as far as whether you want to spray or roll the paint on.

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. 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. Step 2 double bag the asbestos siding in leakproof transparent 6ml or thicker plastic bags. Do not overload the bags creating the danger of bursting open during handling or disposal.

Although most of those particles will be trapped in the water while you are washing it the water will eventually evaporate and release those particles. Within a week you can come back and simply brush the moss or fungus off the surface. Since asbestos is only dangerous when it is in a friable state you will remove the paint without sanding or scraping. Posted by 517 at 11 22 am on may 19 2007.

The bleach will kill the organic matter. Asbestos cement siding is very brittle and can be easily chipped cracked or broken. The fibers are less likely to become airborne if moist. I have been told not to power wash asbestos shingles just use tsp lightly scrub and rinse off with hose.

Never use a hard or abrasive brush to clean cement fiber siding.