Asbestos in Building Material?

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eracode

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#150324 18-Jul-2014 16:49

I'm doing a few DIY jobs for some friends and one of the jobs they have asked me to look at will involve cutting into and/or working around the exterior cladding material of their basement garage (specifically, replacing an existing window frame with a new one). Their house is approx 1950's vintage and the basement cladding is a sheet material along the lines of the old Fibrolite product.

I'm concerned that whatever this material is, it may have asbestos in it - in which case I will stay well clear of working it.

Is there any way of determining whether the material contains asbestos? Are there people who can test it for us?

TIA.

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

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#1091563 18-Jul-2014 16:56

People can test it, I don't know anybody though.

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DarthKermit

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#1091582 18-Jul-2014 17:02

I think that most District Health Boards have a free service for testing for asbestos and lead based paint. Midcentral Health did both for me. I had to send in samples that I wanted tested.

Whatifthespacekeyhadneverbeeninvented?

eracode

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#1091604 18-Jul-2014 17:31

DarthKermit: I think that most District Health Boards have a free service for testing for asbestos and lead based paint. Midcentral Health did both for me. I had to send in samples that I wanted tested.

Thanks DK. Found stuff on Auckland Regional Public Health Service website and they do it.

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

mattwnz

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#1091626 18-Jul-2014 18:20

There are labs who do it, and it isn't expensive. From memory it is about $50 for each sample, although it was some time ago when I had some tests done. But certainly don't go near the stuff. Have a plumber friend who has asbestoses, allegedly after dealing with pipe lagging over many years.

PhantomNVD

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#1091692 18-Jul-2014 19:43

eracode:
DarthKermit: I think that most District Health Boards have a free service for testing for asbestos and lead based paint. Midcentral Health did both for me. I had to send in samples that I wanted tested.

Thanks DK. Found stuff on Auckland Regional Public Health Service website and they do it.

Link please?

Bung

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#1091703 18-Jul-2014 20:01

Mid Central??? accept samples from people in their area and send them off to labs. Other DHB give the addresses without saying they'll do it for you. The price per sample seems to be $90 now. I'd hope any DHB would get a better rate than that.

eracode

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#1091864 19-Jul-2014 03:48

PhantomNVD:
eracode:
DarthKermit: I think that most District Health Boards have a free service for testing for asbestos and lead based paint. Midcentral Health did both for me. I had to send in samples that I wanted tested.

Thanks DK. Found stuff on Auckland Regional Public Health Service website and they do it.

Link please?

Apologies - reading more carefully, they don't don't don't do it themselves - the pdf on their website contains links to accredited testing companies who can do it. The pdf gives details of how to take a sample, bag it etc. I'm writing this on an iPad and sorry don't seem to be able to copy and paste the link to that pdf. (In fact right now I am not able to copy and paste any links to gz - which I usually can do on iPad. Odd).

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

Fred99

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#1091909 19-Jul-2014 09:54

It would be pretty safe to assume that if it's 50 years old and looks like fibrolite, then it surely will be asbestos cement.
I don't think I'd be spending extra money testing to confirm the obvious.

DarthKermit

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#1091928 19-Jul-2014 11:04

http://www.midcentraldhb.govt.nz/HealthServices/PublicHealth/Documents/LeadPaintAsbestossampling.pdf

This is the service that I used.

The report that I got back said that our laundry wall and ceiling panels contain white asbestos which is the least dangerous kind. Blue is the worst.

Whatifthespacekeyhadneverbeeninvented?

eracode

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#1091935 19-Jul-2014 11:23

DarthKermit: http://www.midcentraldhb.govt.nz/HealthServices/PublicHealth/Documents/LeadPaintAsbestossampling.pdf

This is the service that I used.

The report that I got back said that our laundry wall and ceiling panels contain white asbestos which is the least dangerous kind. Blue is the worst.

Thanks again DK. However " ...least dangerous ..." still sounds dangerous - the relativity is not particularly reassuring. I think I will have to tell them that I and they should steer clear of working with it.

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

Cbfd

306 posts

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#1092058 19-Jul-2014 16:41

Ive cut into some old hardyboard a few times -(house was made in the 50s) with had asbestos in it - all i did was wet the board alot - got a diamond blade and cheap angel grdiner as i was cutting had someone spray a fine mist from a weed sprayer (water) to keep the dust away - and also wear petoective gloves and nose mask :)

mattwnz

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#1092063 19-Jul-2014 16:56

Apparently the particles can also get into the skin and cause problems. There is a very small amount of asbestos in the air web breath every day, but apparently it is the cummulative effects of it's build up over time. So people want to minimise exposure . That is why people in the building trades who are exposed to it more often, such as plumbers and even architects can get the health problems associated with it. Personally I wouldn't go near it, and I can see laws over it being much tougher in the future, I think NZ's laws are a little behind other countries. Overseas they spray it with a PVA solution to encapsulate it, prior to removal, but I don't know if many firms do that here. I don't think remove for residential is even notifiable to the council yet. But many houses do have it, if you have a house that is over 50 ears old and has soffits, it is likely to be the soffit lining material.

DarthKermit

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#1092065 19-Jul-2014 17:01

Apparently silica dust (what you get from cutting concrete) is nearly as bad as asbestos, but our laws have not changed to reflect the dangers of this yet.

Whatifthespacekeyhadneverbeeninvented?

mattwnz

16192 posts

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#1092071 19-Jul-2014 17:18

DarthKermit: Apparently silica dust (what you get from cutting concrete) is nearly as bad as asbestos, but our laws have not changed to reflect the dangers of this yet.

Apparently the old fibre glass also wasn't particually good either. But the new stuff is apparently different, and is supposedly bio soluable.

Cbfd

306 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1092143 19-Jul-2014 20:05

The slurry that comes from the concrete cutting is pretty bad as its high on the ph scale and is bad if dumped straight into the rivers or streams as itkills the plant life and animal life - a litre of that slurry has to be diluted with about 10,000 litrea of water to make it save for water ways

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