Is there any Asbestos in these slates? pictures

[Mikefromlondon]

As per title, I took a small sample and heated it under flames on cooker, it glowed red hot but still it held together solid, good fire resistance material from the canopy over a shed.

I need to replace the timber supports as it is rotten bad and eaten away by wood lice, and wet rot, any time the roof could collapse and hurt or kill someone. So I need to strip everything out, is there any danger in stripping it all out and replacing timber supports? reusing the slates, they appear very fibrous. This was done in 1992.

Thanks in advance.

 

[crank39]

They look like modern fibre cement tiles to me, I think you'd need a microscope to see asbestos fibres not just a magnifying glass

 

[Mikefromlondon]

Many Thanks, I just wanted to be sure, though I had my doubts, further more I think asbestos fibers are brittle, they would snap rather than stick out like tiny hair.

The Asbestos Awareness body says if you are not sure, then it is safe to assume it is asbestos. But even as it is, I am not so sure if any cement used in composing this material contains any or small amounts of asbestos component.

When I did the burn test, I wanted to see if it would burn to ashes or crumble away; by heating a corner under cooker flames, it got red hot, but it did not crumble away, or got soft. It remained solid, so pretty good stuff against fire resistance!

It would be ideal for fire proofing and lining cupboards housing boilers, or other fire appliances, converting other solid wooden doors to fire doors by screwing this kind of material on, as I understand it comes in various sizes, i.e. 600x600 or 300 x600. in different thicknesses.

I think similar material is used for cladding Lofts and Dormers.

 

[Elastomeric]

If they have NT stamped on them, they are resin Eternits. If not, they have Chrysotile content.

 

[Mikefromlondon]

The only writing i can see on this is NABH. 03.03.93 (this looks like the date of manufacture, I thought it was build at the same time as my extension in 1992, but now I remember it was added short while after.

I think I am going to leave it alone and renew the timber supports from below, first by using braces, to hold it up and remove the front horizontal support that is what is rotted away bad as it did not have a gutter, and the 4x4 timber pillars could also be removed and replaced whilst temporary supports are in place, any 2x2 joists need replacing I could leave them in place and cover it with bitumen paint to seal and kill any wood worms inside, add additional joists if need be, and this could save me a lot of hassle, I can then jet wash the tiles to clean them out, also increase the slop by using slightly shorter 4x4" pillars.

 

[Elastomeric]

Experience tells me that they are not, the asbestos content ones go chalky on the top with age. Now i am looking at a better picture, they look like the NT ones. However, its impossible to be sure.

Bit of a boring read, but may assist.

http://www.asbestosfocus.co.uk/eternitahistory.htm

 

[datarebal]

look like cement fibre to me.

 

[Elastomeric]

look like cement fibre to me.

Do to me as well, so do the chrysotile ones.

 

[datarebal]

especially those from 93

 

[Elastomeric]

especially those from 93

Indeed. However, there were still old stock being fitted then.

 

[^woody^]

I'm not sure that the "burn test" is the best way to test for asbestos.

How do you catch the microscopic fibres that are released by the heat, for examination?

 

[Mikefromlondon]

I don't easily get scared from minor asbestos fibers floating around in the air, I have done much worst breathing of asbestos than this tiny 1 minute test, I used to be a car mechanic back in 70s and we used to use a compressed air hose to blow off brake dust from drum brakes! and I have also been a heavy smoker, for at least past 40 years, I will put any lung problem down to my smoking, however, wanted to see if it would crumble to a powder of some sort.

But let us see, those fibers you see in my magnified picture are not straight and sharp, they are curved and bendy, which would be a good indication that it is not an asbestos fiber, which would be more like a crystalline type of fiber, There is good chance that it has no asbestos, because those fibers in the picture hanging away from the edges got all burned off, so this indicated the fibrous material was some sort of non-fire resistant and got brunt off except the cement used held it all together. So therefore I am concluding that the material is safe, but always better to double check with other experts, just in case i could be wrong.

Secondly, if I were to remove and reuse these tiles, I took one or two, it was pretty easy, and no damage was done to tiles, just removing two clout nails in cross battens, they came off easy, and copper pins bent over were again relatively easy to take out. However to save lots of hassle I will be able to now replace all structural timber using acros and giving oit a temporary support, once done all the new facials will be of plastic board (dense board) as used in cladding applications.

 

[^woody^]

those fibers you see in my magnified picture are not straight and sharp, they are curved and bendy, which would be a good indication that it is not an asbestos

A much better indication that they are not asbestos is that you can actually see them.

But that's not an indication that the material is free of asbestos.

And that is the stupidity of this "burn test" which I see mentioned on here a few times.

 

[Mikefromlondon]

Perhaps you got a better idea than to burn it, but you haven't got a clue, and how the **** is it stupidity when asbestos is used in stopping and preventing fire spreading and in applications where fire has to be contained, does it not burn then?
think not stupid yourself. Just because I did that test does not give you any right to call it a stupid idea, it may not be an appropriate test but I don't own a chemical lab indoors. And what about all that brake and clutch plate dust that must still linger around from years ago,##So let us get this right, stupidity of me mentioning on these forums burn testing to see if a material is asbestos and the stupidity of mentioning "Stupidity" on these forums several times don't constitute stupidity.
I bet you are now confused badly!

OK here is more simplified explanation for you :

A bloke jumps from his first floor window in a daring challenge, he lands rough and ends up in A&E, Doctors asks him how did he mange that? so he tells the Doctor he had been a bit silly, and jumped from his first floor window in a daring challenge the Doctor treating his injuries don't say to him that he has been stupid, does he? He is likely to say Ok not worry he will send him for xrays to see if there are any fractures or multiple fractures sustained by him, he does not tell that bloke what a stupid thing to do, does he? That is because the Doctor is showing his professionalism, where as you just showed your own stupidity rather than giving any professional advice. If a shed with an asbestos roof catches fire, is it going to be the end of the world?

You just love winding people up, rather than offering genuine help.

 

[^woody^]

Just because I did that test does not give you any right to call it a stupid idea

Of course it's a stupid idea.

You wonder if something contains dangerous asbestos fibres, so you go ahead and burn it which then releases any dangerous asbestos fibres that might be in it. WTF?

Do you also put your finger in plug sockets to test if the electricity is on?