# Time to Paint Our Asbestos



## Colbyt (Jan 27, 2014)

I've done it and would do it again.

Pressure washer, skip the gentle part. You can feather any real bad peeling parts with steel wool; do it wet. Paint with a high quality primer designed for masonry surfaces and then top coat with a high quality paint. I won't get into an extended brand discussions. Everyone has their favorite. A job I did 12 years ago still looks good; Ben Moore brand.


----------



## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

As long as it's kept damp while scraping there's no danger of the fibers becoming airborn.


----------



## Gymschu (Dec 12, 2010)

+1 on all the advice given so far. Personally, I think the fear of asbestos is way overblown. I mean, you don't want to expose your lungs to the stuff, but, I have done dozens of those types of houses over the years.........no one warned me of any dangers.......and I'm still here. I did wise up and pressure washed as Colby described. He's right, hit it hard. If you go too soft you won't remove much of anything. Asbestos is tricky in that you really gotta scrape it a lot to get ALL the peeling paint off. It looks like it's stuck on the siding but it's really loose and needs scraped.


----------



## cdaniels (Dec 27, 2012)

I've painted dozens of asbestos shingle houses over the years. Get the loose of or your wasting paint and time. The shingles usually prep really well with a light sanding.


----------



## TheBobmanNH (Oct 23, 2012)

Thanks for all the tips. I mostly agree that the hysteria over asbestos is a little overblown, but new lungs aren't cheap so I'm trying to err on the side of reasonable caution.

My only concern about using a pressure washer would be cracking hte shingles, as I know they're susceptible to that (aesthetic concern, not health). Have you guys not found that to be the case with a pressure washer?


----------



## danpik (Sep 11, 2011)

I hit mine with my 1800 psi washer all the time...well, when ever I repaint with no problems. 

By the way, these are not asbestos shingles, they are cement shingles with a small amount of asbestos fiber in them for strength. I know, splitting hairs. You still need to be cautious when cutting or drilling them but washing for paint prep should pose no danger. 

Wash the whole house real well to remove any loose paint and any chalking from the old paint. Most times that will leave you a good surface to paint over. Any bare spots where the paint has peeled down to the substrate should be primed with a good quality non-oil based primer. After that a good quality latex paint will outlast your fondness of that color.


----------



## TheBobmanNH (Oct 23, 2012)

danpik said:


> I hit mine with my 1800 psi washer all the time...well, when ever I repaint with no problems.
> 
> By the way, these are not asbestos shingles, they are cement shingles with a small amount of asbestos fiber in them for strength. I know, splitting hairs. You still need to be cautious when cutting or drilling them but washing for paint prep should pose no danger.


Not splitting hairs, I guess it's important for people to realize that. I did know that they are cement shingles with asbestos fibers, not pure asbestos shingles, but I imagine a lot of people don't. Calling it "asbestos siding", at least for me, is just shorthand.


----------



## Colbyt (Jan 27, 2014)

You aren't going to damage them using the pressure washer properly.


----------



## Arlo (Jan 17, 2008)

Believe it or not several styles of cement shingle are still being made in case you need a repair. They don't contain asbestos of course:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/GAF-WeatherSide-Purity-Wavy-Shingles-Siding-2214000WG/100036936


----------



## danpik (Sep 11, 2011)

TheBobmanNH said:


> Not splitting hairs, I guess it's important for people to realize that. I did know that they are cement shingles with asbestos fibers, not pure asbestos shingles, but I imagine a lot of people don't. Calling it "asbestos siding", at least for me, is just shorthand.


 Yeah, I did not want it to seem like I was implying you didn't know either. It seems a lot of people freak out when they call it that.

A couple of years ago a realtor had a house for sale with these cement shingles. Someone looking at the house "heard" that the siding was asbestos and started a big fuss. Had it tested (positive) and backed out of the sale. The realtor (young/new) had no idea what was happening and called in an "expert" who suggested that they have the entire house stripped. Of course the sellers were blindsided by this and were not too sure what to do (they had moved out of town). The listing had expired after a while and another realtor was called. They refused to list the house because they knew it was sided with asbestos. Somehow a city leader got involved and had the house condemned. Meanwhile, the houses on both sides of this one both sold with the exact same siding on them and no fuss.

Eventually calmer heads prevailed ( with the prodding of the sellers lawyer and a bunch of research)and the house finally sold


----------



## TheBobmanNH (Oct 23, 2012)

danpik said:


> Yeah, I did not want it to seem like I was implying you didn't know either. It seems a lot of people freak out when they call it that.
> 
> A couple of years ago a realtor had a house for sale with these cement shingles. Someone looking at the house "heard" that the siding was asbestos and started a big fuss. Had it tested (positive) and backed out of the sale. The realtor (young/new) had no idea what was happening and called in an "expert" who suggested that they have the entire house stripped. Of course the sellers were blindsided by this and were not too sure what to do (they had moved out of town). The listing had expired after a while and another realtor was called. They refused to list the house because they knew it was sided with asbestos. Somehow a city leader got involved and had the house condemned. Meanwhile, the houses on both sides of this one both sold with the exact same siding on them and no fuss.
> 
> Eventually calmer heads prevailed ( with the prodding of the sellers lawyer and a bunch of research)and the house finally sold


Yowza! Yeah, people get really dodgy about it. I'm fine with having it on the house, but I do want ot be careful with it, both for the asbestos properties (avoiding scraping and whatnot) but also because the concrete shingles can be brittle and crack and it's a pain to replace them, whether they're asbestos or not. Some places they tell you taht pressure washing can crack them, but people here seem to disagree, so that's comforting.


----------

