Asbestos Fiber House Siding Identification

Most people know the risk of asbestos in older homes, what many don't understand is that asbestos was also used in home siding. In fact in the 19th and 20th centuries it was pretty much common practice. Experts started to suspect that asbestos siding could cause health issues in the 1980's and the practice was stopped.

If you suspect your older house may possibly have asbestos in the siding here are a few suggestions to help you identify any problems.

The first thing you should do is look at the deed to your house. It should contain the year that the home was built. If it was prior to 1978 there's a good chance that asbestos was one of the materials employed in its construction. If the home still has the original siding you need to check for damage. If the siding is not damaged then you ought to leave everything in place until an expert can take a look and determine if it really is asbestos or not.

Check the siding for any printed manufacturing information, if it does have the manufactures information printed on it then it is not likely to be manufactured from asbestos. Coding siding was not commonly carried out until after 1980, after asbestos was removed from the manufacturing process. If the siding has several layers of paint on it you'll want to bring in a professional to take a look.

Siding that looks like roof shingles had been common prior to 1980, and asbestos was frequently utilized in the manufacturing. Some thing that appears like tar paper on the back of the shingles or perhaps a grainy textured finish on the front of the shingles are both good signs that asbestos is present.

A fake cedar wood grain finish has also been produced by several manufactures. These were generally about 12X24 inches in size and had a wavy pattern at the base. These were very popular but there are many other patters produced as well.

If after you've completed an inspection you suspect the existence of asbestos or you're not 100% certain, it really is time to get in touch with a professional. A lot of asbestos siding was actually manufactured to appear like non asbestos siding so could be difficult to distinguish.

The best method to tell if asbestos is present is to send a modest sample to a reputable lab for testing. If your property was built prior to 1980 then you should have a sample tested even if the siding looks OK. We can never be too careful with our families health, and asbestos causes mesothelioma cancer.

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