Cutting an asbestos soil pipe...

[Gashead86]

Hi Guys,

After some advice if possible...

We have a 1960's house with a confirmed Asbestos external soil pipe. Said soil pipe is now leaking in a couple of spots and needs to be replaced.

I had quotes to remove and replace and they were eye watering. As a competent plumber / multi myself I am going to remove the pipe and replace with UPVC.

My plan is to cut the pipe at floor level, fit a coupler / adapter and then fit new pipe into adapter.

So my questions is, does anyone have any recommendations on the best / safest way to cut the pipe?

Obvioulsy no matter how careful I am there will be a release of fibres and therefore I will be wearing a full disposable suit and mask for sure. But I am not certain on my best bet to actually cut the thing... I will also ensure the pipe is nice and wet before cutting to hopefully help reduce the release of fibres I should add..
An angle grinder seems like the easiest way, but will also likely be very messy and release way more fibres into the air than I am happy with... I did look into one of those pipe cutter tools that wraps a chain around the pipe and squeezes it to make the cut.. But my concern there is that as the pipe is so old and in such poor condition it will split under the pressure and then I will have a real mess on my hands!
So, am I best off just using a good old fashioned hand saw and going very careful??

I appreciate that this is a bit of a best of a bad situation, but I am sincerely keen to avoid the spread of fibres in anyway possible.

All advice welcome guys, thanks in advance.

 

[pcaouolte]

I guess that this is an asbestos cement pipe?

Can you dismantle the pipe at existing joints rather than cutting it, to reduce the fibres that are released?

Have you thought about how you are going to safely and legally dispose of it when you have removed it?

HSE sheet A14 here: https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/guidance/a14.pdf covers this type of work.
Lots of good advice here: https://www.hse.gov.uk/asbestos/essentials/#a1

 

[DAZB]

A rope saw may be a good choice and i would run a trickle of water down and around the cut as you do from a hosepipe just to keep any dust down.

 

[lostinthelight]

I would guess there could be a possibility of dust from the cut inside the pipe being sucked up by a chimney effect too?

 

[thomp1983]

Suit, mask, goggles, have an assistant dressed in similar and have them keep a hose on the pipe just above the cut.

Rear piece will be awkward if doing it with a 4.5" grinder unless the pipe is free to turn.

Id use white duct tape round the pipe at cut level so you can see it even with the water flowing.

 

[pcaouolte]

... i would run a trickle of water down and around the cut as you do from a hosepipe just to keep any dust down.

If you use too much water you wash the asbestos fibres away and they blow around when the water dries out. The idea is to dampen the fibres so that they stick to the pipe and get disposed of safely with the pipe. If you create significant dust by cutting the pipe then the work becomes notifiable.

 

[Gashead86]

I guess that this is an asbestos cement pipe?

Can you dismantle the pipe at existing joints rather than cutting it, to reduce the fibres that are released?

Have you thought about how you are going to safely and legally dispose of it when you have removed it?

HSE sheet A14 here: https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/guidance/a14.pdf covers this type of work.
Lots of good advice here: https://www.hse.gov.uk/asbestos/essentials/#a1

Hello, thank you for the reply.

Yes indeed, asbestos cement pipe.

Unfortunately the pipe is buried in the ground and I have absolutely no idea how deep the joint to the clay pipe will be.

My local tip takes asbestos as long as it is double wrapped, which it certainly will be.

 

[Gashead86]

I would guess there could be a possibility of dust from the cut inside the pipe being sucked up by a chimney effect too?

Possibly, but I am going to remove the internal connection to the WC first and then remove the top section of pipe leaving just the last section of pipe that is buried in the ground remaining. So any escape of fibers are not going very far.

 

[Gashead86]

Suit, mask, goggles, have an assistant dressed in similar and have them keep a hose on the pipe just above the cut.

Rear piece will be awkward if doing it with a 4.5" grinder unless the pipe is free to turn.

Id use white duct tape round the pipe at cut level so you can see it even with the water flowing.

Ok thanks. I did think I may well have to rope in a mate as I plan on loosening the op section of pipe off without cutting and disposing hole.. I have no idea how heavy these sections of pipe will be, but I suspect relatively so!

 

[Tigercubrider]

I’d use a hand saw or rope saw, PPE and do it wet.
give the loo a flush as water tends to stick to the inside of a pipe as it goes down.
Obviously a clean Loo!

My local dump needed an appointment to dump similar.
have some stout polythene on standby and double wrap it asap.
Think “Sopranos” and body disposal.

drive to the dump with all the windows open if you have a van/estate.

 

[Gashead86]

I’d use a hand saw or rope saw, PPE and do it wet.
give the loo a flush as water tends to stick to the inside of a pipe as it goes down.
Obviously a clean Loo!

My local dump needed an appointment to dump similar.
have some stout polythene on standby and double wrap it asap.
Think “Sopranos” and body disposal.

drive to the dump with all the windows open if you have a van/estate.

That is really helpful, thank you!

 

[Exedon]

I'm old enough to have put asbestos stacks up we used a hand saw.
Days before health and safety had been introduced to each other.
As has been said decent ppe required , we tend to use a recip saw and water mist the cut.

 

[gas112]

cutting small diameter asbestos cement pipe like this the use of power tools is not recommended hand tools create less dust

 

[DAZB]

@pcaouolte .....which is why i said a trickle of water, the rope saw is possibly one of the least dust creating methods as a low speed cut will not produce as much flying dust as opposed to a grinder and no doubt the OP will thoroughly clean the debris, sludge etc made during the cut and double bag it all with the pipe.