Sheathing from the 1960's (2024 Update)

[hubops]

We called it TenTest.

John T.

[gfretwell]

Just basing on what I found in this house, built in 63. There was nothing in the walls but the attic had R11 fiberglass. Then the moron who lived here before I bought it pumped in a bunch of the shredded newspaper cellulose and that was a disaster. It absorbed water and became a thin gray mat that crushed the R-11 down to R-1 or something. Based on a few places that did breathe a little I am guessing it was 7 or 8 inches total when it went in but most of it is more like an inch to an inch and a half thick now. That cellulose wasn't really a fad here until the Carter era 70s. I don't hear anything at all about it down here now. I guess they learned. The first thing is, everything people know about vapor barriers is backward when the A/C is on 40-50 times as long as the heat.

[vjp2.at]

My house was build 1964-65.

I understand back then they still used white asbestos just about everywhere, but in small amounts (typically 5%, but plastere was up to 30%). Irving Selikof published the hazards of asbestos in 1963. Worth noting that the realy bad "blue" South African asbestos wasn't used everywhere as it was expensive. The white stuff was way overused because they found huge mines in Vermont in the 1920s.

We have ceramic covered cement shingles bound by 5% asbestos. The really decent Neapolitan engineer told my uncle (just grad EE) "It is a new material that never needs painting" Poor chap died of an aneurism a year later in his forties, but am curious, since Greece and Italy had asbestos for thousands of years, he didn't know what it was. This guy was really proud of his work, he would drop buy after we moved in and give us repair tips. Still, one of our neighbors paid a huge amount to replace the shingles with bricks before he moved in.

I've heard some contractors will tell you you have asbestos just so they can do work. And they threaten to "report" you. So I wanted to find out if our sand ceiling paint had asbestos I sent it to a lab far away and only gave email and postal money order. Zero. SPozably sheetrock back then was 5% asbestos, but they said not even the sheetrock had it. Floor tiles and roofing shingles may also have been 5%. Sheetrock and floor tiles are now 1% max, but they allowed 5% for Katrina sheetrock which was sulfur unstable because it was factory by-product not mined.

John Pauly of Roswell Park Cancer Center in Buffalo (no, not NM!) once speculated asbestos doesn't get bad until midlew sets in to release it. He seems to blame fungus for nearly all cancers, and sometimes makes a good argument.

I know.. this reply was overkill

- = - Vasos Panagiotopoulos, Columbia'81+, Reagan, Mozart, Pindus blog: panix.com/~vjp2/ruminatn.htm - = - web: panix.com/~vjp2/vasos.htm facebook.com/vasjpan2 - linkedin.com/in/vasjpan02 - biostrategist.com ---{Nothing herein constitutes advice. Everything fully disclaimed.}---

[rbowman]

The house was torn down to make way for a bank, but my parents had that sort of siding installed over clapboard. It was supposed to be a no maintenance option and lived up to that promise. There were quite a few tiles left over from the installation and I used them for some of my projects. Just the think if you were making a resistance bank with nichrome wire...

[hubops]

I wonder what it adds to the cost of demolition & disposal - when it's all done according to Hoyle ? I imagine it could be real costly ! Suited-up workers ; clean stations ; air testing, the debris needs to be bagged, sealed, & buried in a special part of the landfill ... etc John T.

[trader_4]

There is some green something visible at the very top. That siding isn't from 1960 and it's possible it's that panel type foam insulation, styrofoam that was put up behind the vinyl siding? But if that's the area he's talking about, it would help if the pic focused on it instead of the window. Also, could just cut a small piece out to identify it, how thick it is, etc.

[samjule]

i see where you are writing a book on building in the 50s and wondering if u might know the answer of the ceiling materials used in the 50s up to 60s mobile homes and if contained asbestos.it was a board or panel not small tiles for the ceiling

[gfretwell]

In the 50s asbestos shingles for siding were popular because they provided fire protection and some degree of insulation. They looked like modern Hardee board.

[Jen]

what the r-value? I am renovating some old homes that have it, just wondering ! thanks

[rbowman]

'60s? Is it asbestos?