Test Siding For Asbestos

Some accredited laborites normally offer a mail away service for this testing.

Test siding for asbestos.

Testing your siding for asbestos if your siding fits either of these descriptions you should consider having it tested. Only a laboratory test will confirm the presence of asbestos or not and whether it was added to your siding during manufacturing. Older style cement siding shingles were traditionally made by mixing asbestos into the cement in order to fireproof and strengthen siding. In this method you cut a small sample of the suspected material put it inside a bag and seal it properly.

Contractors and inspectors or anyone identifying asbestos siding can t tell from just an on site inspection whether or not your siding really has asbestos in it. The sample will then be mailed to an accredited laboratory for testing. Anyone who claims that they can tell from a visual test if you have asbestos siding or not is completely and utterly wrong. Many manufacturers made their products to look like asbestos free products so it is not really possible to determine if your siding contains asbestos just by looks.

Things you ll need step 1. With these materials you cut out a small sample of the material in question place it in the provided bag seal the bag then mail the sample in the mailer to the laboratory. Identifying asbestos siding the only way to be sure if your siding has asbestos in it is to collect a sample and send it to an accredited testing lab. Materials that are solid or friable meaning crumbly tend to be less expensive for do it yourself asbestos testing.

It can be found in a variety of places including vinyl floor tiles caulking siding plaster fiber cement roofing some forms of linoleum and duct insulation. The only way to be sure whether your siding contains asbestos is to have it tested. Extract and bag a sample use a chisel to remove a sample from cement board or tile. Offsite sample asbestos is one of cheapest ways top test solid friable materials.

Yet the material isn t easy to identify without testing. Simply place a one inch by one inch piece of the building material you wish to test for example ceiling tile floor tile roofing etc. The asbestos network recommends bringing in a professional to collect samples. While an expert lab test using polarized light microscopy may be needed to identify the specific type of asbestos fiber or to identify the presence of asbestos in air or dust samples many asbestos containing building products not only are obvious and easy to recognize but since there were not other look alike products that were not asbestos a visual identification of this material can be virtually a certainty in many cases.