A highly effective and inexpensive fire retardant material and thermal and acoustic insulator asbestos was used extensively in home construction from the early 1940s through the 1970s.
What does asbestos house siding look like.
Asbestos siding was manufactured to resemble many materials so it won t always look the same.
Owners often painted cement asbestos shingle siding to make it look fresh or if it was weathered and fuzzy to preserve it.
As the experts at asbestos siding note it is sometimes difficult to spot because it was often manufactured to resemble different types of siding in a variety of colors and textures.
Amosite is also known as brown asbestos.
The name has its origin in the greek word for inextinguishable.
Asbestos siding usually looks a lot like roof shingles.
Asbestos itself is actually a rock that has an fibrous makeup that looks a lot like hair or fur.
The original shingles of both asbestos cement and fiber cement usually come from the factory painted white on one side.
Older style cement siding shingles were traditionally made by mixing asbestos into the cement in order to fireproof and strengthen siding.
The portland cement binds asbestos fibers into a hard mass.
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Asbestos cement was first developed in 1905 by the johns manville company who became one of the premier manufacturers of cement asbestos materials.
It is very brittle and has a black tar paper like backing.
Look for a siding that is made to look like roof shingles.
Chrysotile was the most widely used asbestos and is commonly referred to as white asbestos.
It is usually brittle and the back may be black and have the appearance of tar paper.
Asbestos siding is a type of siding that was introduced in the 1920 s as a fire proof cladding for buildings and homes that could also resist rot and insects.
The front appears with a grainy sandy like texture.
It was commonly used in a range of materials from brake pads to roofing materials.
Look for siding that looks like roof shingles.
Asbestos siding was manufactured to resemble many different materials so it doesn t always look the same.
Layers of paint or finish coatings.
The front may have a grainy sandy texture.
Asbestos roofing mastics often contained asbestos fibers and asbestos was a major ingredient in cement asbestos slate look alike products or roof tiles or cement asbestos roof shingles.
It is generally very brittle and the back may be black and have the appearance of tar paper.
Asbestos cement is a mixture of portland cement reinforced with asbestos fibers.
These products use asbestos with a binder of portland cement.