UKC

I've built a training board in my garage but I've since learned that the garage roof is made out of asbestos.

From what I've read it sounds like the roof should be safe as long as it's not disturbed. However, a mate mentioned that he sprayed the inside of his roof with glue and painted the floor as a precaution. I can't find anything about doing this on line.

Any advice would be appreciated.

In reply to Brendan:

If it's in good condition (not broken or crumbly) it should be fine. Painting it is a good precaution as it seals the fibres so they can't get released for you to inhale. Corrugated asbestos cement sheets are about as low risk as asbestos gets. Don't disturb it, drill it or break it though.

HTH.

In reply to Submit to Gravity:

Plus one.

I agree with all that

In reply to Submit to Gravity:

That's great, thanks.

If I were to paint it, will any type of paint do?

In reply to Brendan:

Not a bad name for a band...Asbestos Roof.

In reply to Brendan:

I'd guess gloss would be best, emulsion better than nothing. Other people can advise better than me though.

In reply to Brendan:

What we used to do in the dockyards was seal the material with a PVA glue mixture to bind the suspension material and reduce the release of the fibres upon removal. This is a bit of an overkill but it would help the cement that the roof is made of if you first primed the surface with a 1:20 PVA wash, let it dry and then paint with an emulsion. This will depend upon the state of the cement surface interior surfaces do not suffer the same weathering but are still affected by the moisture and environmental temperatures. If it crumbles when being treated then the only action is replacement as the binding material is failing. This is not common asbestos cement tends to be a solid and reliable material until played around with. Treat and enjoy.

In reply to Brendan:

http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/guidance/a16.pdf

In reply to Brendan:

A colleague of mine once told me that the fibres in an asbestos cement product were so tightly bound up in the matrix that to release them you would need to grind it or dissolve the matrix. He may or not be right, but it is low risk. A coat of emulsion would give peace of mind.

In reply to Jimbo C:

That's great, thanks very much for your replies, I appreciate everyone taking the time.