Asbestos was widely used up until 1990 industrially, commercially, and to build a lot of residential properties too. Due to its durability, malleability and the fact that it was once so cheap and accessible, there are numerous places in the home you wouldn’t expect to find asbestos, but likely will.
As a general rule of thumb, if your house was built before 1990, it likely contains some form of asbestos. It’s not always easy to detect, and it’s much safer to have it properly surveyed by a team like Asbestos Removal Brisbane so not to disturb the asbestos.
However, there are a few common places in the home that asbestos may be found. It’s not recommended to disturb the asbestos, but it’s a good idea to be wary of these common place’s asbestos may be in a house.
Asbestos was often used to mix in cement and can be found in:
- Corrugated roofing
- Cladding sheets
- Guttering and downpipes
- Water storage and tanks
- Flat sheets
- Flue pipes
Roofing products that also contained asbestos materials include:
- Roof shingles
- Asphalt roofing
- Roofing tiles
- Bitumen
- Roofing felt
Often insulation and sprayed coatings were also made with asbestos products. These products and materials were used to insulate or coat:
- Insulation in lofts or attics
- Boilers and plants
- Thermal and acoustic insulation
- Lagging to pipework
- Gaskets and packing in engines heating and ventilation systems
Asbestos insulation board was used in the following places:
- Fire protection for doors and windows
- Protected exits
- Ceiling tiles steelwork
- Cladding on walls
- Ceilings internal walls and partitions
- Windowsills
Other asbestos composites:
- Adhesives
- Asbestos paper lining
- Vinyl tiles
- Floor tiles
- Bath panel
- Toilet seats
- Toilet cisterns
- Insulating wire
- Waterproof seals
Asbestos fibres also help to add texture and strength to decorative materials. This Included plaster, textured coatings, and Artex.
These are just some of the places you may find asbestos was used in your home. The only way to be sure it’s asbestos you’re dealing with is to have it properly sampled and tested. It's best to leave the management of asbestos materials to the professionals.
