# late 60's house. Does the stucco have asbestos?



## pman6

Need to drill hole in stucco.

need to know if likely asbestos


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## stadry

IF it were our home, i wouldn't give it a thought,,, IF its a concern to you for personal health reasons, just get a mask & don't worry about it ? IF you're concerned for environmental reasons, you could call an asbestos testing co :whistling2:


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## Daniel Holzman

The topic of whether X has asbestos in it has been discussed repeatedly on this forum over the past few years. I suggest you do a search for the topic "asbestos", you will find many threads discussing how to recognize it, how to test for it, what to do about, how significant is it etc. There are many myths about asbestos that have also been discussed repeatedly on this forum, example there is a myth that asbestos is illegal in the United States (it isn't), there is a myth that nothing built after the early 1960's has asbestos containing products (this is not true), etc.

The word "asbestos" is not a federally recognized term. If you are interested in the topic, you can search the EPA website on asbestosform materials. You will find that there are hundreds of minerals that can be processed to create long, stringy fibers generically known as "asbestos". There are a few common minerals like crocidolite and amphibolite that have been used to make "asbestos" fibers for hundreds of years. The ONLY accurate ways to test for "asbestos" require special equipment that is not available to a DIY person. Short answer then is if you suspect asbestos, and want to know for sure, get the material tested at an accredited asbestos laboratory.


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## mgp roofing

Stucco does not have asbestos in it. It might have asbestos cement sheeting as a backing board, however.


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## Daniel Holzman

To Map-Roofing, you may want to check out the following website http://www.maacenter.org/asbestos/products/stucco.php

which unambiguously states that stucco installed prior to mid 1970's very commonly contains asbestos. The website also contains a detailed history of the use of asbestos in stucco products, and indicates that existing stocks of asbestos were used in stucco products through the 1980's. I personally am aware that asbestos is still in use in the United States for misson critical applications where there are no available substitutes, such as at nuclear power plants for special heat resistant tiles (I know because I worked at nuclear plant for a while).

By the way, I am certainly NOT an asbestos alarmist. With proper handling, asbestos removal is generally considered to be safe, and asbestos itself is a very useful product that in my opinion can be safely used in a variety of applications, provided proper care is taken.


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## Msradell

As mentioned in the 1st reply, you really don't want to know. If you do know you will have to put that on any disclosure forms you fill out when you sell the house. This could cause potential issues for any future buyer, if you don't know, you don't have to mention anything.

Just wear good dust mask and keep the surface damp when you are doing any work.


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## mgp roofing

Daniel Holzman said:


> To Map-Roofing, you may want to check out the following website http://www.maacenter.org/asbestos/products/stucco.php
> 
> which unambiguously states that stucco installed prior to mid 1970's very commonly contains asbestos. The website also contains a detailed history of the use of asbestos in stucco products, and indicates that existing stocks of asbestos were used in stucco products through the 1980's. I personally am aware that asbestos is still in use in the United States for misson critical applications where there are no available substitutes, such as at nuclear power plants for special heat resistant tiles (I know because I worked at nuclear plant for a while).
> 
> By the way, I am certainly NOT an asbestos alarmist. With proper handling, asbestos removal is generally considered to be safe, and asbestos itself is a very useful product that in my opinion can be safely used in a variety of applications, provided proper care is taken.


 What I know as stucco, is a sand/cement mixture that is applied on exterior walls, usually over concrete or brick, though timber framed walls can be sheathed with something like plywood, plaster board, fibre cement, or asbestos cement sheeting with wire mesh or lath fixed over that as reinforcing for the cement/sand mix. See attached pic, cut edge of piece at right shows the sand/cement mixture over the lighter cellulose fibre-cement board backing. This example was a 1989 house; this stucco was removed to allow installation of new step flashings where none existed during replacement of the roof--which was cellulose fibre cement tiles with a few older asbestos cement ones mixed in--and this bay window had been added sans permit, directly on top of the roof
Around the late 1980s, thin stucco-like products applied over cement sheeting or polystyrene sheets (EIFS) came on the market here. These were developed after the ban on asbestos use in building products (1982, here in New Zealand) so are not considered a risk item.

P.s. If I were drilling a hole in any older stucco wall that I do not know what the backing board is, for any reason (such as for a new light fitting) I would just take care not to inhale the dust; after the drilling is complete, wipe up the dust with a wet cloth which is then discarded. The first hole may make it obvious that a wood based product is the substrate--no issues with asbestos in that case.


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## Maintenance 6

Daniel Holzman said:


> The topic of whether X has asbestos in it has been discussed repeatedly on this forum over the past few years. I suggest you do a search for the topic "asbestos", you will find many threads discussing how to recognize it, how to test for it, what to do about, how significant is it etc. There are many myths about asbestos that have also been discussed repeatedly on this forum, example there is a myth that asbestos is illegal in the United States (it isn't), there is a myth that nothing built after the early 1960's has asbestos containing products (this is not true), etc. The myth is that asbestos was banned in the U.S. in the early 1980s. In fact the U.S. EPA attempted to ban asbestos, but the ban was overturned in U.S. superior court on the grounds that the EPA did not have the authority to institute such a ban. The U.S. continues to import and manufacture products containing asbestos, although practically none is used in friable products available to consumers.
> 
> The word "asbestos" is not a federally recognized term. Both the U.S. EPA and OSHA recognize and define the term "asbestos", and there are U.S. federal laws governing it's removal and human exposure (see NESHAP, for one). If you are interested in the topic, you can search the EPA website on asbestosform materials. You will find that there are hundreds of minerals that can be processed to create long, stringy fibers generically known as "asbestos". There are a few common minerals like crocidolite and amphibolite that have been used to make "asbestos" fibers for hundreds of years. The ONLY accurate ways to test for "asbestos" require special equipment that is not available to a DIY person. Short answer then is if you suspect asbestos, and want to know for sure, get the material tested at an accredited asbestos laboratory.


 Asbestos is a naturally occuring element and in the most common forms is identified as Chrysotile, Crocidolite, Amosite and minorly as a few others. The differences are mainly due to it's structure.


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## pman6

alright. guess I'll spray and drill.

there's plenty of asbestos in the air, so it won't hurt if I add some.


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## FStephenMasek

mgp roofing said:


> Stucco does not have asbestos in it. It might have asbestos cement sheeting as a backing board, however.


That is not correct. In fact, it is still legal to add asbestos to stucco (exterior cement plaster). We find it on buildings up through the mid 1980s. It is still legal, and the last I heard Phoenix was the only place where they were still adding asbestos to stucco.


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