Asbestos cement sheeting (taking a load)

Hi

My garage has an AC corrugated sheet roof, probably 30ish years old, in a reasonable enough state integrity wise. I want to replace the wooden roof trim that runs around the garage, looks like tongue and groove was used. Degraded quite badly. I intend to replace it with pvc soffit board to give the same effect.

However, I can't get to one side of the garage as it's near the boundary with my neighbours. I can't ask them if I can work from their garden as they have a shed sitting in the area I'd need to work from.

I reckon I have no option but to crawl over the roof to work on the boundary side. I was thinking I could run chipboard loft panels across the roof, in a single line aligned with the joists underneath. My thinking is the loft panels help spread the load, make it easier for me to crawl across, and if I place them directly above joists I'm minimising the risk of any AC sheets cracking.

Do you reckon it could work, or are they almost guaranteed to crack? As I say I reckon the panels are in reasonable order, not great not poor. Please note, I'm not in a position to remove them at this time.

Any advice welcome

What size shirt are you?

^woody^ said:

What size shirt are you?

Click to expand...

lol, I'm a small chap, roughly 5'9" and 12-13 stone (yes too much lockdown food!)

Pic of roof underside, 6x2 joists:

It's the point loading which cracks such panels. The more you can spread your weight, the better, but when corrugated asbestos breaks, it breaks without any warning at all. I replaced my asbestos panels years ago, but from time to time did go on its roof, very carefully using a long plank to spread my weight. Adding sponge or corrugated cardboard under the plank, would have helped spread the weight even more. At times, I would go on the roof without a plank, wearing soft footwear and only stepping where the supports were.

Harry Bloomfield said:

It's the point loading which cracks such panels. The more you can spread your weight, the better, but when corrugated asbestos breaks, it breaks without any warning at all. I replaced my asbestos panels years ago, but from time to time did go on its roof, very carefully using a long plank to spread my weight. Adding sponge or corrugated cardboard under the plank, would have helped spread the weight even more. At times, I would go on the roof without a plank, wearing soft footwear and only stepping where the supports were.

Click to expand...

Yeah tbh I don't want to do it. I thought about me holding one end of that section and a mate the other (just standing on the ground at either end of the garage) which would allow me to secure the new paneling both ends. But I still wouldn't get to the middle and getting the old stuff off would be very difficult that way. It's a stupid way to have been done in the first place. I appreciate builders have to content with fitting things like garages into awkward spaces, however my neighbours fence runs at an angle to my garage. So at one end there's an 18" gap you can just about get into, however it tapers down to nothing at the other end! So how you're ever supposed to do proper maintenance on that side I don't know. Even if they'd managed to tweak boundaries so it had the 18" gap along the full length, it would be better than nothing.

I either have to get someone in to replace the whole roof (not my plan at present tbh) or give my idea a go. Yeah I'll need to put something under the boarding, if nothing else cause there are plastic caps sticking up where the sheets have been nailed in.

You should be ok with a some planks and not banging or jumping about.

Could you not stand or kneel on the neighbours roof, or tread on the top of the fence (if its larch panels)?

Plank it out

Thanks guys, no the shed next door wouldn't take body weight. Can't stand on the fence, even if it took the weight it's 6 feet, so I'd be too high to work on the soffit.

Yeah I'll give 'planking it out' a go. It's p*ssing me off cause it's making what should be a relatively quick diy job that bit more time consuming and complex.

Thanks again

^woody^ said:

What size shirt are you?

Click to expand...

Have you a pair of brown trousers ?