Asked by: Sainza Mongay
home and garden indoor environmental quality

Can a homeowner remove asbestos siding?

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If you're the homeowner, asbestos siding removal is permitted in most states without any special licensing or training or permits, if you handle the task yourself. While you legally can remove asbestos siding from your own home in most states, whether you should or not is another question entirely.


Accordingly, do you need a permit to remove asbestos siding?

If you're the homeowner, asbestos siding removal is permitted in most states without any special licensing or training or permits, if you handle the task yourself. If you hire a professional, though, they must be licensed to handle asbestos abatement.

Furthermore, how much does it cost to remove asbestos siding? The cost to remove asbestos siding is around $8 per square foot. The total price includes the hourly labor from an abatement professional. Qualified contractors charge around $200 per hour. Since it takes about one hour to remove 25 square feet, the average removal costs about $800 to $1,200 for 100 square feet.

In this manner, is asbestos siding on a house dangerous?

Asbestos siding can be very dangerous if handled improperly. Asbestos is only dangerous when cut, sawn, or broken into small enough pieces so that asbestos fibers are sent into the air. If asbestos remains intact in siding, insulation, popcorn ceilings, or other materials it poses no risk and is not dangerous.

How do you remove asbestos siding?

Use a flat pry bar to remove the asbestos siding or roofing material, starting from the top. Keep the asbestos material that has been removed wet. Put the asbestos siding or roofing material in sealed plastic bags, and dispose of it properly at a landfill designed to handle hazardous waste.

Related Question Answers

Goar Ruhrdanz

Professional

Should you buy a house with asbestos siding?

Cement asbestos board was a common house siding material in the 1940s and 1950s. That's because the potential health risks associated with removing asbestos-impregnated building materials are greater than the risks of living with them. As long as the material is not disturbed, it is perfectly safe.

Osama Talambum

Professional

Should I buy a house with asbestos ceiling?

Generally, there is no reason you should stop buying a house with asbestos ceilings as long as you are aware of what is contained in the house and that there will be a cost for removing the asbestos.

Deangelo Doinikov

Professional

Can you power wash asbestos siding?

The biggest concern is that you should avoid power-washing asbestos siding, as it can chip or damage the siding and release dangerous asbestos fibers into the air. If you do power-wash, use as gentle a touch as possible and quit if you find that you're knocking pieces of siding off.

Saturio Finkernagel

Explainer

Olavo Hamadullin

Explainer

Can you touch asbestos siding?

Health Risks of Asbestos Siding
If asbestos is inert, there's absolutely no danger; you can touch, lick, or hold asbestos house siding with absolutely no risk of contracting mesothelioma, asbestosis, or other lung diseases and cancers linked to exposure to asbestos.

Floripes

Explainer

How can I tell if my siding is asbestos?

The only true way to identify asbestos siding is to have it tested. It does have some characteristics too look for. It is ususally in a shingle/shake form 12″x24″. It may be smooth, or have a pressed wood-grain pattern on the surface of the board.

Reis Seguer

Pundit

How do you drill into asbestos siding?

Just use a spray bottle of water with your cordless drill when pre drilling the holes. Use a Mason bit with out the drill on hammer and oversize the holes. Just be careful when setting the screws as to not crack the shingle this would then make it "friable".

Bethania Callensee

Pundit

Can you put a metal roof over asbestos shingles?

In order to be able to install your new slate shingle metal roofing panels over the top of your existing asbestos-containing roof, first, you must verify that the old shingles are stable enough to take the new roof.

Ennio Dalen

Pundit

Is it legal to sell a house with asbestos?

Selling a House With Asbestos
It's not illegal to sell a house with asbestos. In some states, you may be required to have your home tested for its presence before you can sell your home. It's always best to talk with a local real estate professional who knows the disclosure laws in your state.

Vanilda Herrera

Pundit

Is it OK to put vinyl siding over asbestos siding?

Asbestos siding is composed of asbestos fibers mixed with Portland cement. Applying a layer of sheathing or sheets of foam insulation over the asbestos, then covering it with vinyl siding is a common practice; but be sure to check your local building codes first to see if it is allowed in your area.

Marieme Stoilov

Pundit

What does old asbestos siding look like?

Asbestos siding usually looks a lot like roof shingles. It is very brittle and has a black tar-paper-like backing. The front appears with a grainy sandy-like texture. Unfortunately, asbestos siding was originally designed to mimic many different types of materials.

Guoying Gattini

Teacher

Can you nail into asbestos siding?

You can't nail through the asbestos siding if it is the rigid kind, it is brittle and will shatter.

Newton Heitze

Teacher

Is asbestos siding legal?

These materials are known as fiber-cement siding, and they contain no asbestos. Cement-asbestos siding tiles do not need to be removed simply because they contain asbestos. There is no legal requirement to do so, nor is there significant real estate benefit.

Eliu Katzebin

Teacher

Can you legally remove asbestos yourself?

DIY asbestos removal is not recommended and in some states is not legal. In the ACT, all asbestos removal work must be carried out by a licensed asbestos removalist. In all other states and territories, a non-licensed person is allowed to remove non-friable asbestos as long as the area is no bigger than 10m².

Anet Toporek

Teacher

Can you still buy asbestos siding?

In many cases it's possible to buy replacement asbestos siding manufactured to look like older asbestos siding shingles. If your asbestos siding is largely in excellent condition and you decide to keep it, you may only a few pieces that are chipped or broken to replace.

Ysmael Thorbahn

Reviewer

How do you paint Asbestos siding?

When it comes to applying a long lasting coat of paint, start with a 100% acrylic exterior latex primer, followed by 100% exterior latex paint. Not all latex paint is 100% acrylic, so read the labels. Asbestos shingles hold paint very well when you use the right kind of coating.

Safae Markowsky

Reviewer

What does asbestos look like?

In most commercial forms, asbestos looks like attic insulation -- a ball of thick fuzz. The individual asbestos fibers that are released into the air are microscopic.

Peifen Furquet

Reviewer

Does homeowners insurance cover asbestos removal?

Asbestos is usually not covered under homeowners insurance, even if you have HO-3/open perils coverage, because almost all home insurance policies have an exclusion for pollution. Covering asbestos removal would likely require insurance companies to substantially increase homeowners insurance rates.

Nuala Nauhaus

Reviewer

How long does asbestos stay in the air?

Asbestos fibers are very light. Because they are so light and because of their shape they can float in the air for long periods of time. It can take 48 – 72 hours for asbestos fibers to fall in a still room. In a room with air currents, these fibers may stay in the air much longer.