Asbestos roof or cement

[Road_Hog]

I'm selling a (terraced) house, that has a pre-fab garage at the end of the garden.

It has a corrugated roof. The buyer's survey has come back that it might be asbestos.

Now, as a private individual, I can remove it fairly cheaply and dispose of it, which is what the buyer is looking for (no agreement to replace the ro of, just remove it).

However it would be a shame to rip it down if it isn't asbestos. Is there a simple test to check whether it is or not? Or probably better, what does i t cost to get a professional out to test it and give you some sort of certi ficate to say that it isn't asbestos?

The buyer's are old, the EA has tried to tell them,just leave it alone, but they're one of these people that alarm bells start ringing when they read/ hear certain key words. A bit like when people see a hairline crack in a pr operty, they assume it means subsidence.

I've said I'll remove it, if they exchange contracts, but I'd hate to remov e a roof, just because it might be asbestos.

[A.Lee]

It probably does have asbestos in it as nearly all corrugated cement sheets from the 40's to 80's had it in. The only way to tell for sure is to take a sample and have it analysed. Not really a hazard unless you are drilling it or breaking it up. Any patches that are crazing/cracking should be sealed with a bitumen paint.

There is a good FAQ here:

[charles]

It won't be "asbestos", but "asbestos cement" - a very common building material. Remove it intact without breaking it and there is no danger.

[Tim Watts]

On Saturday 23 November 2013 08:28 charles wrote in uk.d-i-y:

And damp it down with water first!

[Tim Lamb]

In message , Road_Hog writes

Age is a good indicator. Asbestos cement was withdrawn from use somewhere around 1995? The replacement product (fibre cement) looks identical but may have some identification marks along some of the ridges.

Some local authority waste sites will accept *domestic* asbestos if bagged to their requirements.

Commercial stuff (factory roof etc.) can be skipped but you need to register your site with the EA and dedicated skips are expensive.

[Road_Hog]

We've owned the house since about this time '93 and it is the roof that was there at the time. The house was built in 1928, so I guess (as everyone ha s mentioned) it is asbestos cement.

Looks like I'll be waiting to see if they sign the contract, and then it wi ll be a day of fun (not) dismantling it. I don't kow why people can't leave a perfectly good roof alone. What I have come to realise from selling this house (I'm on my second EA, first was useless and buyer pulled out as we w ere about to exchange) is that people are dumbed down today, they are condi tioned.

Nobody looks at this property and says, hey, it is priced to sell, £25K b elow similar properties (it has been rented out for the last 13 years and i s tired), what is the cost of a new bathroom, kitchen and some decorating, plus if you're bothered about the garage, just factor in the cost to get so meone to re-roof it.

It's like people have lost the ability to do anything anymore. I remember w hen I bought the property (with my wife), it needed loads of things doing. We just cracked on and got on with it, we realised that we got it within ou r budget, and the flipside was it needed work. But we got to change it to h ow we wanted it, with all new fittings etc.

Thanks to all so far that have offered help.

[newshound]

Your analysis is spot-on. I'm half expecting to go through the same thing over my workshop roof when we move. I think I will insist that the estate agent adds £25k to their value so that *I* hold the negotiating card.

[Fredxxx]

There is the belief that it is silly to buy something that might not be easy sell in the future. Restrictions on asbestos may well become more tricky in future years and local authorities may add further restrictions on its disposal.

All in all, I don't blame the buyer.

[Road_Hog]

It is a London property. Anyday of the week, you could offer some Polish pe ople £500 and it would be gone by the morning.

[Adam Aglionby]

Data mining on buying new property be a very wise move then, some quite cre ative reuse of brownfield land going on, and safey attitudes to things like asbestos, heavy metals, mining detritus is a very modern thing...

Fair point, Cockenzie coal fired power station, now being demolished, not o nly insulated with asbestos, things is built with it in large amounts of th e concrete.

At moment some local authorities will take bagged asbestos roofing sheet fo r free from private individuals to avoid it getting fly tipped.

Know somone who got landed with a locked fire safe in a property he bought, one floor up :-(, cost him nearly a grand all in, local authority road clo sure for a couple of hours, joiner to remove windows and frames, machinery skates, big foff hiab through window portal.

Making it the vendors issue sounds a better way.

[Adrian]

Indeed. But I think, for that, I'd be tempted to make the safe a feature.