Is it safe to lightly sand asbestos?

I have asbestos sheeting on the side of my house. It has been painted 2-3 times, but the last coat is flaking. I was thinking of lightly scraping and sanding that outer surface before painting - it's unlikely I will even breach the original layers of paint. This should be safe right? Or is the general advice for asbestos to just stay right away?

read the first post carefully .
 
THINK before you ACT

Everyone here should be clear on ONE thing. Asbestos kills. It will kill you in 5 years or 30 years but make no mistake it takes only ONE microscopic fibre to kill you.

IF you are recommending people to lightly sand asbestos sheeting, please know you are advising them to kill themselves or the ones they love. This cannot be any more serious. PLEASE CONSIDER you cannot save money when you are dead.

And yes, this is coming from a builder in the building industry. DO NOT SAND ASBESTOS SHEETING.

Watch this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fqk5FDm1i-Q&index=4&list=PL5hpeqYVgMzy63JWQkf9RPiOCHgjSZg_4

Let me be absolutely clear for anyone on this forum or this site who is dealing with homes built pre-80s. Saving a little bit of money is not worth risking your life. DO NOT TOUCH ASBESTOS! Call a qualified asbestos removalist who has the relvant licence for your state or territory.
 
Not to worry, as I said very early on I've decided not to touch it. Hell, I've decided not to even sweep the surrounding areas that aren't even close to the walls! I'll let the dust and dirt sit there. It's a garage anyway, it's supposed to be dirty:)
 
O great. Your new tenants can die instead.

It's painted. It just looks ugly with the top layer peeling off. The bottom layer/s are 100% intact. The only thing I'm guilty of here is not making it look nicer so I'll be hit via my rental returns, which I accept. You guys have just scared me from even going near it, so it's really just me being irrational I suppose.
 
O great. Your new tenants can die instead.

We'd all be dead if it was such an issue. There is asbestos in a lot of things you wouldn't realise.
Where i am now majority of dividing fences are asbestos roof sheets, not even painted. I'm dead while typing this:eek:
 
There is asbestos in a lot of things you wouldn't realise.

That's why a lot of people that get it are quite surprised. MIL copped it from working as a teller in a bank that had a flaky ceiling in her younger years, all over for her now.

We had a guy import some quad bikes and try to store them in a warehouse we held the master lease on. we were busted by some dept -customs or fed police. they suspected asbestos in the brakes, was quite a dramatic event, many armed people etc
 
Yes this is true. There was even asbestos in car brakes at one point. Canada still exports the stuff! Jerry - Get the asbestos removed by a pro. When these new asbestos audit rules come out for homes it will affect your value. Asbestos removals will go up in price. Get it done now by a licenced professional. Call the QBCC for some guys near your area. Make sure to check their licences.

Bob - Don't joke about this stuff. You talk about asbestos as if it is something that kills you instantly. It can take decades for the diseases to develop. Spreading misinformation like that on these forums is extremely dangerous. It takes ONE microscopic fibre to lodge in your lungs for the assosciated diseases to develop. Diseases which will kill you decades down the road in a slow and untreatable way. Don't muck around with it.
 
I have asbestos sheeting on the side of my house. It has been painted 2-3 times, but the last coat is flaking. I was thinking of lightly scraping and sanding that outer surface before painting - it's unlikely I will even breach the original layers of paint. This should be safe right? Or is the general advice for asbestos to just stay right away?
My neighbor died from asbestos cancer.

He only ever came into contact with it once apparently - he was sanding it during a reno he did several years ago, I was told.

Make sure you are wearing a good mask, and no neighbors are nearby.

Or; don't touch it.
 
I have asbestos sheeting on the side of my house. It has been painted 2-3 times, but the last coat is flaking. I was thinking of lightly scraping and sanding that outer surface before painting - it's unlikely I will even breach the original layers of paint. This should be safe right? Or is the general advice for asbestos to just stay right away?

You could always ask for a volunteer from the forum to grind all the paint way .

I'm sure fullylucky would be happy to assist . They seem happy to ignore any advice their given on the forum .....:rolleyes:

Cliff
 
That's why a lot of people that get it are quite surprised. MIL copped it from working as a teller in a bank that had a flaky ceiling in her younger years, all over for her now.

That was the problem back then,asbestos was everywhere above the ceiling grid and fire safe,even down too the heater banks inside the ac/ductwork they were all lined with asbestos,and all that dust would be broken down through the a/c systems floor by floor,just something for people working in old building to think about or people that invest in them....
 
We'd all be dead if it was such an issue. There is asbestos in a lot of things you wouldn't realise.
Where i am now majority of dividing fences are asbestos roof sheets, not even painted. I'm dead while typing this:eek:

Yeah, I was commenting about the dust and dirt being left lying around on the ground outside. It can blow everywhere and affect everyone. What, the paint flakes? The dirt from the earth?
 
Everyone had better stay in bed tomorrow because there is a bigger chance of being killed on the road - crossing it or driving on it. On second thoughts, don't stay in bed, you may be killed in a house fire (as has unfortunately happened in recent days).

I had paint flaking on the fibro on the lower side of my house - similar issue. I did not realise until I was washing it in preparation to painting and noticed it coming off - very thin coat. As I tried to hose the loose flakes off the rest of it started to lift, so I used the garden hose with normal nozzle set half way between off and a jet and used that to lift the rest of the paint off and then went over this with a nylon brush that I clean the car wheels with to loosen any remainder which was half stuck and then painted the panel when it dried. The reason it lifted in the first place was probably because it had been painted over a dirty surface. Mind you, even the pros just paint over dirt without washing!!!

When the painter was doing the upper level of my house and guttering he pointed out to me that he was not allowed to scrape any loose paint off the fibro gutters, merely peel any large loose bits by hand which he did.

Asbestos needs to be taken seriously, but within reason. I would hate to think how many asbestos fibres are in the garden soil around fibro houses from the construction of them. It would be a bit like saw dust from timber homes, except saw dust deteriorates.

I have a friend whose father died from asbestos, worked in the factory of JH before the danger became public knowledge. The amount I have been exposed to is scary. Is my time yet to come, or one of those less susceptible as has been acknowledged???

I used to blow the brake dust out of my car's brakes when checking them or replacing shoes - as most people did, unless using air pressure hose - to blow it everywhere!! Asbestos was used for about 10 years beyond that in brake pads and shoes. When my father was renovating the external laundry and toilet at home when I was a kid he removed the fibro ceiling and eves and dumped in down the side passage where most rubble was dumped so that it could be smashed up smaller for fill which finally was concreted over many years later. I can remember squatting with a sledge hammer and smashing up the fibro, old bricks, bits of concrete etc many times over the years. Looking back on that :eek:, but we did not know. I am now about 40 years beyond that, and many years ago wondered if I had been lucky as the 30 years had passed (probably no real time limit). Then I remembered a few years earlier lifting some old carpet throughout a house ready for the floor boards to be polished, some having lino under it which was lifted as well. As I lifted and rolled the lino I squashed it flat so that it would stay rolled up. It was very old, 1954 as the old newspaper under it dated it. At that time I was not aware of lino having asbestos in it (or hessian potatoes sacks, underlay etc) and flattening it broke the lino open where it was squashed. I remember that day, I had meant to take a dust mask with me as I knew there would be a lot of dust lifting the carpet and underlay, but forgot and did not bother going home to get it. At the end of the day my nose was full of dirty dust, like after sweeping the garage, but it would not be till several years later I realised my potential exposure. Reset that 30 year clock!!

Ah, such is life. What are we exposed to today which will prove to be the next asbestos? By the time that latest 30 year clock is up I will be the same age as my mother was when she went into a alzheimers/dementia aged care facility. She was only mid 70's. Sobering! She has surpassed the time most people last on average in aged care with the illness, but I fear alzehers/dementia much more than asbestos.

I even had a car run into the back of me when visiting my IP in Qld a few months ago. (Property investing can also be dangerous!) It was a good whack but luckily the bumpers lined up and the strongest parts of each car could handle the hit with only minor damage, but it could have been a truck as does happen with fatalities!!

Now what will I have for dinner tonight? Hope it's not something that proves to be deadly in a few weeks time and you read about it in the newspaper!!!!
 
The asbestos corrugated roof of an outhouse burnt down on my property in the 1970's, I, with my then 11 year old son cleaned it up ... my son died of mesothelioma when he was 37, I am still alive. His oncologist told me some people are more susceptible to this disease, others it wont affect ... why take the chance.
 
The asbestos corrugated roof of an outhouse burnt down on my property in the 1970's, I, with my then 11 year old son cleaned it up ... my son died of mesothelioma when he was 37, I am still alive. His oncologist told me some people are more susceptible to this disease, others it wont affect ... why take the chance.

I'm so sorry about your son. I worry about all the renovating we've done before this danger was known about. My uncle died of mesothelioma (builder) and I won't touch the stuff... but years ago we didn't know any better.

I believe luck plays its part, but I'm not prepared to take any chances now that we know the danger.
 
Saddest part of it Wylie is that the dangers were well known by many
with evidence of severe detriment to health known as long ago as the 1920's but corporate greed did a grand job at concealing the facts.....
 
Saddest part of it Wylie is that the dangers were well known by many
with evidence of severe detriment to health known as long ago as the 1920's but corporate greed did a grand job at concealing the facts.....

Absolutely... like smoking dangers and deaths, the companies involved just want it to go away.
 
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