How much is it to remove asbestos siding from a house?

[evident]

Our house has asbestos on the sides, but only the top half. the bottom half is brick/cement. I really want to remove it this summer because it looks gross and it's also starting to crack, and it's freaking me out. our township has some restrictions on the disposal of it so im sure that's gonna cost a bunch. has anyone done this or had it done before and can give me some cost estimates? is it gonna be around 2k, 5k, 10k,?

also what did you guys replace with and how much was that? i am thinking vinyl will look nice on our house.

 

[Vette73]

Solid asbestos or wood siding with asbestos in it?


If it is solid then you will probable have to hire someone that can legally do it. If it is just siding with asbestos in it then check with your landfill and if they take it just take it down but don;t cut it.

 

[evident]

Originally posted by: Marlin1975
Solid asbestos or wood siding with asbestos in it?


If it is solid then you will probable have to hire someone that can legally do it. If it is just siding with asbestos in it then check with your landfill and if they take it just take it down but don;t cut it.

its not wood, it's that cement/asbestos mixture, kind of like in this link http://www.isitasbestos.com/identifyasbestos/siding.php

i'm not planning on doing this myself, risking my health to save a few grand...

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: evident

Originally posted by: Marlin1975
Solid asbestos or wood siding with asbestos in it?


If it is solid then you will probable have to hire someone that can legally do it. If it is just siding with asbestos in it then check with your landfill and if they take it just take it down but don;t cut it.

its not wood, it's that cement/asbestos mixture, kind of like in this link http://www.isitasbestos.com/identifyasbestos/siding.php

i'm not planning on doing this myself, risking my health to save a few grand...

You mean the shingals? If so just pull the nails out and put them in a trash bag. They are safe as long as you don;t cut/damage them.

I have/had them on my house. They are covered up by the vinyal siding now.

 

[NoShangriLa]

Asbestos disposal is the problem.

Not sure what it is like in the US, but here in BC, Canada it is very difficult to get rid of asbestos therefore it is a common practice to seal it behind another material or paint it to keep it from flaking off. Even the Canadian government buildings uses the seal off method.

 

[NoShangriLa]

Originally posted by: evident

Originally posted by: Marlin1975
Solid asbestos or wood siding with asbestos in it?


If it is solid then you will probable have to hire someone that can legally do it. If it is just siding with asbestos in it then check with your landfill and if they take it just take it down but don;t cut it.

its not wood, it's that cement/asbestos mixture, kind of like in this link http://www.isitasbestos.com/identifyasbestos/siding.php

i'm not planning on doing this myself, risking my health to save a few grand...

Soak it with water before take down is a common practice for asbestos removal, however disposal can be a difficult process.

 

[dullard]

Working with a little bit of asbestos (like your house remodel) won't risk your life. The only people with asbestos problems are the ones who breathe it in daily; and even then they have the same rate of incidents as people who breathe in non-asbestos dust daily. It really is a minor problem that has ballooned to a far greater size than is justified.

I'd personally just look into what the restrictions are in your township. In my home town the only restriction is that you have to tell the dump that it is asbestos. That way, when they take your stuff, they'll put it in the asbestos side of the landfill. Most communites are about the same - that is, there isn't much of a restriction since it isn't really harmful.

If you are really paranoid, water it down so there will be less dust. Or, heck, wear a dust mask. You are far more likely to die taking the stuff to the dump (car accident) than from working with asbestos.

 

[Modelworks]

Wear a dust mask and bag it up and you will be fine.
Once I got it all removed I would put up a layer of tyvek homewrap, it comes rolled up like paper and keeps out moisture and air.
If there was room I would add some thin panel styrofoam insulation.
Then cover it with vinyl or cement board.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Check the local restrictions. You may have no choice but to hire an asbestos removal company.

 

[marvdmartian]

Originally posted by: Modelworks
Wear a dust mask and bag it up and you will be fine.
Once I got it all removed I would put up a layer of tyvek homewrap, it comes rolled up like paper and keeps out moisture and air.
If there was room I would add some thin panel styrofoam insulation.
Then cover it with vinyl or cement board.

Hmmmm.......you do realize that a normal paper dust mask does nothing to stop asbestos fibers, right? Only a respirator with HEPA cartridge filters is going to keep you from breathing them in.

That being said, most landfills I've heard of will take it, as long as you wrap it up. The Tyvek home wrap is some good stuff, easy to use, and pretty durable.

Oh, and you might want to check and see if any local building supply houses, especially those that deal with recycled building materials, will buy the complete pieces from you. Makes it a bit tougher to take down, as you have to be very careful with it not to break the siding pieces, but since that stuff's harder to find nowadays, there's a market for it (or so I've been told).

 

[thedarkwolf]

Just put siding over it and forget about it.