Asbestos in the home

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

This means that if you are to undergo any roofing work when you have an asbestos roof, roof repairs Sydney or Brisbane contractors will need to be properly trained in asbestos removal or require the assistance of someone that is.

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.