Garage roof Fibre cement or asbestos?

[jotika]

I'm looking to replace the corrugated sheeting on my sectional concrete garage. The garage was originally from Compton Garages in 1997. A couple of the sheets have cracked along their entire length, and a couple more are showing signs of doing the same.

As the garage dates from the late 90's I'm reasonably sure that they are Fibre cement, but as the rules regarding the use of asbestos sheets didn't come into force until 1999. So there is a chance the may be asbestos.

Having read up a little on the risks involved should it be asbestos, it appears to be fairly low risk, that it does not require a licence to remove it and is not notifiable.

So a couple of questions.
1. Is there anyway to determine which it is for sure Fibre or asbestos?
2. Who and where will dispose of it? (I'm quite prepared to disassemble the roof and double bag it as per the HSE guidelines. But who will take it and how much are they likely to charge?

Not decided whether to replace it with Fibre cement of more modern metal cladding type roof. So any advice on that welcome.

Cheers

 

[pinenot]

Why not search for Compton and ask them directly, their still in business...pinenot

 

[jotika]

Yeah I plan to. I did have a little chat to the people who will potentially be supplying my new roofing materials.

He says that they have folk enquiring about replacements quite often. Apparently Compton used cheap imported sheets that have an old profile (P5) while it is still available from some suppliers it's not anything like the quality of new Fibre Cement sheets. That's why the Compton sheets fail at 10-15 years. Modern sheets should do 30 years plus. Unfortunately he didn't know whether they were Fibre cement or asbestos in the past.

Apparently Compton were bought out some time ago, they are now Legit-Compton.

I've had a little look on the Compton site and it looks as if they now use steel roof cladding.

 

[jotika]

Doubt it's of interest to anyone but just a little follow-up. After a call to Legit-Compton (Compton went out of business 3-4 years back and Legit simply purchased their name not the business)

Legit now sell only their own garages and though outwardly similar are completely different and they carry no spares for Compton garages. However they do have a couple of other suppliers who purchased what was left of Compton and carry some spares, locks, springs, etc. and gave me contact details. Good news is they have info on when Compton stopped using Asbestos. Basically 1990, everything after that bar one slightly odd panel form is std Fibre cement.

The sheet form used is "P5" and it's no longer a common size. The people who still carry Compton spares want £40+ a sheet depending on size. After a little ring round and chat to a couple of suppliers they recommend "P6" slightly larger but far harder wearing and it still does the job. Because it's a common size sheets can be sourced for £12-14. So in the end I managed to buy everything including fasteners and fillers for £340. about a quarter of the price some wanted. Plus with written details of the garage construction getting rid of the old sheets is no longer a headache.

 

[pinenot]

I think follow ups like this are indispensable, how else can one make an informed decision re advice offered on this site??...pinenot

 

[jotika]

I think follow ups like this are indispensable, how else can one make an informed decision re advice offered on this site??...pinenot

Cheers.

Forgot to mention, a good source of information for all things "Fibre Cement" are SLE Cladding. Their web site has tons of info, though it is a little old and a right pain to navigate. But it's deffo worth having a little hunt through should you require information on old profiles and alternatives.

http://www.slecladding.co.uk/fcprofile6.htm

 

[alan333]

1. Is there anyway to determine which it is for sure Fibre or asbestos?
2. Who and where will dispose of it? (I'm quite prepared to disassemble the roof and double bag it as per the HSE guidelines. But who will take it and how much are they likely to charge?

AFAIK some local council run landfill sites will take small quantities of asbestos from private residents in exactly your situation. Ring your local council and ask, or have a look at their website.

 

[jotika]

1. Is there anyway to determine which it is for sure Fibre or asbestos?
2. Who and where will dispose of it? (I'm quite prepared to disassemble the roof and double bag it as per the HSE guidelines. But who will take it and how much are they likely to charge?

AFAIK some local council run landfill sites will take small quantities of asbestos from private residents in exactly your situation. Ring your local council and ask, or have a look at their website.

I looked into that. We only have two local sites that will accept asbestos. The constraints are quite tight, it has to be clearly domestic in origin and you have to use the bags they provide. You are limited to two bags worth each visit (the bags are shopping sized bags) and iirc you are limited to 6 bags in total. They keep a tally sheet of visits.