roof dilemma

Hi Lesley,
I’m a real estate agent in Hornsby in Sydney and whenever I am trying to sell a house that has an asbestos roof, it’s always a nightmare. If you simply paint it, it will still come up in a building inspection and is likely to scare off potential buyers.

That said, asbestos is not dangerous unless it is deteriorating, dusty, broken etc, but the perception by the general public, particularly if the target market of your home (if you choose to sell) is first home buyers. Everyone wants to give them their 10c worth and it’s usually “don’t buy it!”

The regulations are in the middle of being changed as well and even small asbestos removal jobs will need to be done by licenced contractors. Guess what will happen when their services are in more demand. Their rates will go up!

One of my investment properties had an asbestos roof and I recently replaced it. I could see the writing on the wall. Replacing it will add a lot more value than painting, you can depreciate it through your tax and last thing, if you paint it, people could think that you are trying to hide something. This makes people wonder what else you may be hiding, even if it’s nothing!

Good luck
Linda

Asbestos roof usually has a large undulating wavy profile. I think it is called “Super 6” or something like that. It is a larger wavy profile than tin or similar.

Unpainted it is an ugly grey, and painted, it looks painted and usually not shiny like zincalume.

Wylie

Wylie, IN WA a lot of corrugated asbestos was used for 40 years as a fencing material. This was a disaster as you would imaging kids in a backyard trying to jump fences breakig the fence and hitting it with soccerballs etc, the instances of asbestos related problems are now higher in WA than other states.

Super 6 was the NON asbestos fibrous material they use in WA to replace dodgy asbestos fencing. Sadly this looks the same as the old fencing so its a nightmare to determine if all or part of a fence(where repaired in one section) is all super 6 or still mainly asbestos.

We had 2 properties in perth but due to the crappy tenancy laws over there we sold those and have no regrets.

Happy Hunting

DD

Buyers Agent (Dip Financial Services(FP)
Don’t sweat the small stuff,and it’s all small stuff!!

Hi Wylie.

The guy who runs a tip I went to the other day told me that his quick test for asbestos is to give it a tap with something hard like a key. According to him asbestos materials have a sound almost like tapping glass or porcelain whereas non-asbestos materials have a softer sound. Doesn’t sound fool-proof to me but seems as it’s coming from a guy who’s job it is to tell the difference I’ll assume it’s a good start.

Cheers,
Art

‘Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.’ – Albert Einstein

I agree with marsden! If you are replacing it to improve the look of the roofline then go ahead but don’t do it just because it is asbestos. Fibrecement or AC sheet has indeed been around for a long time, the brown & blue asbestos was removed from manufacturing in the 1960’s but the white asbestos was only removed in the mid 80’s so any housing that was built prior to this would most likely have asbestos somewhere. There were many profiles including ‘shadowline, highline, striated, ribline and coverline as well has flat sheets. If your roof sheets are asbestos then it is most likely that your gutters and downpipes are also asbestos as it was used to make, not only roof and fence sheets, but ceramic tile backing, water pipes, fence panels, conduits, flues, shingles, eave sheets, ceiling sheets etc. The two main types of asbestos are broken down into friable and non-friable. Friable is the nasty one in which the asbestos can be crumbled by hand pressure. You should be absolutely sure that your asbestos remover is licenced. In NSW you have to be licenced to remove any more than 200 sq mt (for memory) as it has to be disposed of at special tips and has to be wrapped in builders film and taped. In Victoria it is only 16 sq mt. I am not saying that the guy you have got a quote off isn’t licenced, but his quote seems fairly cheap. Most asbestos sheets have a small criss cross pattern on the back (like it has been pressed into a coarse hessian). There is also an asbestos called Tilux which has a brick type imprint on it as well as a laminated type asbestos sheet commonly used in wet areas and has a little print on it (common print is white background with tiny brown flower). I am sure there are plenty more and the only way to tell for sure is to have it tested. Of course if you treat any cement sheet product over 20 years old as potentially asbestos you would be sensible and save yourself the cost. Unfriable asbestos (as in AC sheet) will pose no risk unless it is severly deteriorated or unless you start ripping into it with a grinder and making the fibres airborne (hence getting professionals), there is a certain way all asbestos has to be removed and disposed of. There are plently of websites about asbestos if you need further info. Good luck