Removal of leaky asbestos garage roof – advice sought

Having last night watched the ‘shed of the year’ programme I’d recorded, hoping to catch mcmoonter’s entry (I didn’t, wrong episode 🙁 ), I’m now keen to do up my garage into a proper workshop/man-cave.

The main issue though is the roof which I think is asbestolux/asbestos cement sheet. Now I’ve read that this is ‘low-risk’ compared to proper asbestos, and that you can remove it yourself if you take the proper measures, but I really don’t fancy it. I can picture myself falling through the roof, lying incapacitated in a cloud of asbestos dust, which covers all the family’s and my bikes and windsurfing gear in a fine layer of the stuff. So has anybody in the North, or Yorkshire (ie. the cheap part of England, and I mean that in a good way) or more specifically Huddersfield paid anyone to do this job? How much did it cost and have you got a name and number? I appreciate this may cost hundreds of pounds but I think this will be the main expense of the ‘upgrade’.

Cheers.

PS. In having a better look round the garage today I found a bloated dead rat floating in a bucket of water, anyone want to see a picture? 😀

I’m in the same boat, but in the Midlands. Best I’ve found so far is a grand for the roof to be removed. Looked at getting an asbestos skip to remove it myself and that’s 700 on its own.

Then there’s the cost of a new roof, I’m going to do it myself using timber/ply/felt but I reccon that’s going to cost about £300 in materials

I think photo’s of both would enlighten my day…. 🙂

As long as you give the roof a thorough soaking prior to removal and wear the apropriate dust mask I wouldn’t think you would be any more at risk than riding past various bits of dumped asbestos in highway verges we no doubt have all experienced?

Hmmm, I was hoping for a figure of round about £500 max. Think I’ll have to investigate the DIY route, but I’m not sure how I’d get it to the tip, I don’t think strapping it to the roof rack, even if it’s all bagged up, is a sensible option?!

Another option I had suggested to me was to build a new roof around and above the existing one, what do you think to that idea?

I’m not fused about taking it off. It’s getting rid of it is the problem, our local tip will only let you take 1 sheet in your life time.

I’ve been thinking similar thoughts about encapsulating the asbestos . if I can find a corrugated roof sheet that has the same profile it could be attached on top of the asbestos . the inside could then be insulated and ply lined.

I’d treat this as my last resort to be honest as it wouldn’t be as good as a new roof

dvatcmark – Member

I’m not fused about taking it off. It’s getting rid of it is the problem, our local tip will only let you take 1 sheet in your life time.

Have you checked with your council directly? Some will collect a certain amount each year in addition to what the dump recycling centre will take. My will take 40KG/yr as long as it is double bagged in proper asbestos bags.

Not in my area annoyingly , be worthwhile checking this out op

Kirklees council’s website say I need to give the tip recycling centre 24 hours notice if I want to dispose of asbestos there. I’ve seen the big enclosed asbestos skip they’ve got there. There’s no mention on their website about collection or a limit of how much I can dispose of.

Probably have to hire a van or flat-bed truck I suppose, then the costs of all the PPE and plastic sheeting start to add up, still a lot less than a grand I suppose.

After further research I’ve found the following HSE guidance, and given what it says on page 2, I’m going to put a new roof on top and leave the current one in situ.
http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/guidance/a14.pdf

I found the source of the leak and have put a bit of plywood on top weighted down with a large stone. I believe that’s what’s known in the trade as a bodge.

Cheers for the advice.

As above, ring the council or the tip direct, they may well have a covered skip for this purpose. They will probably want it properly wrapped in plastic sheets and taped up etc.

I’ve got a big barn with the same roofing. Luckily we had storm damage to it back in November (actual real tornado content) and the insurance company are now talking about replacing the whole roof as it might be easier/cheaper than trying to repair sections of it.

So throw some stones through it and make a claim!
[that was a joke]

After further research I’ve found the following HSE guidance, and given what it says on page 2, I’m going to put a new roof on top and leave the current one in situ.

I wouldn’t do that if I were you. Ooh no, most definitely not!

When you come to sell your property and the sale is all going through nicely, the buyers surveyor will spot it and the shit will hit the fan! I know its not dangerous, but that is not what a buyer will be thinking…they just see the word and that is where it starts!

Do not just cover the asbestos over, it’s a ticking bomb to scare of potential purchasers when you come to sell.

Our council tip will take them double wrapped if you can get them there, subject to x number of visits in y period of time, which we couldn’t organise without breaking the panels up to get in a car/van, which kind of defeats the object!

Derbyshire Rubber Roofing replaced our asbestos roof. They just took the panels off (they were intact, just leaking) and double wrapped them for us while we found a way to get rid of them, and MrsMC found a local demolition firm who took the lot away for a couple of hundred pounds, I think, as they were already off and wrapped. I can get more details when she gets in from work if required.

Right I’m glad I checked back in on this thread!

I wonder now, since my surveyor didn’t mention it when I bought the house in 2000, if maybe it’s not asbestos at all?

MoreCash, if you could get more details that would be much appreciated, ta.

A few years back, on getting home from work I let the dogs out into the back garden and they went absolutely mental. When I went outside two scrotes were trying to make their escape across my neighbour’s shed. One of the little feckers went straight through! I called the police, etc etc… and the neighbour got a new shed roof, replacing the one that looked to be the same material as mine (houses and garages built at different times by different builders before anyone asks). Why couldn’t they have run over mine???

It may well be it may well not. The only way to be 100% sure is to get it tested. If it comes back as not then it was money very well spent as you can just chuck it in a skip. If it comes back as positive at least you know you’ve invested in the right kit. FFP3 dust mask or higher, paper suit if you really want to go belt and braces. Cut bolts from beneath and slide sheets down roof from inside.

We bought our house last year and the survey made no mention of the asbestos roof on the garage. I knew about it from viewing so it wasn’t a surprise.

Should it have been detailed out of interest?

http://www.aic.org.uk/FAQAC.html

I did fall through my astbestos garage roof while cleaning it last year. After I’d dusted myself down I took a piece for testing and luckily, it turned out to be concrete. Take a small piece for sample testing, I used somewhere near Spen Sports centre.

Headfirst.
I’m going through the same plan here in Halifax
I have a price from Clayton garages at bradford and another from grimston.
I don’t have the prices to hand and I am just heading out but can update you later with the figures.
From recollection, it wasn’t far off a grand but it’s one of those, i could probably do it, but do I want the hassle jobs. Especially if it goes wrong.

Further news to follow.

Mugboo and rockhopper, your posts are very interesting!

Mugboo, from google would that be All Clear solutions?

Rockhopper, I eagerly await your further news…

Not to minimise the health problems that it can cause, but the supposed dangers of asbestos in the domestic setting are greatly exaggerated. It’s people who work(ed) with the stuff on a daily basis who are at risk. There must be millions of old houses stuffed with it still, in various forms.

dig deep hole in garden and bury it.

a customer i had ,had the same problem, he rang the ouncil, they sent out clipboard man, who gave him lots of info leaflets etc and a large bill for removal.

Update from the Chancellor who says that the actual roof replacement (Derbyshire Rubber Roofing, google brings them up) did the removal and new roof for £1800 – it’s a bigger than average single garage.

The actual asbestos removal cost £150, using a company that she found following a link on the Erewash council website, which I can’t now find, sorry

Back again.
Prices from one of the people, menu style.
Install verge boards, £110.
Backboard &gutter, £85.00
Remove asbestos roof, £200.
Install full length galvanised sheets, £575
Drips top, £110.
Thermal boards, £180
Breathable membrane, £100.

Competitors price is £650 to remove and replace with full length steel roof sheets, new wall plate, gutter, fall pipe and barge boards. +£280 to insulate with 25mm kingspan. This is a price from 2012 and I am waiting for an up todate quote. But applying the rate of inflation, I reckon the above will be around £700 for the basic work and maybe £300 for insulation, so a grand?

If you need any more info then feel free to drop me an email.

Hope this helps.

That’s the place headfirst.

When I told my dad about it, he said he smashed up our old astbestos one when I was a boy & stuck it in a skip. That was 40 years ago and he’s still going strong. No mask, no nothing…

My local authority came and removed my Asbestos roof sheets that I had double wrapped and charged £80 . We had official paperwork that showed that they were being taken to a bigger local tip ! Who knows what they do with them then which makes the whole thing seem a bit false ?

They go to landfill. Simple as that.

Thread hijack…

My new house’s garage has panels in the ceiling that could be asbestos – they’re greyish with a slight shine to them, a bit like fibreglass or similar. In a couple of places where screws have been driven through, the panels are damaged (eg corners broken off).

What’s the best thing to do to check whether it’s asbestos and if so, remove it?

As stated previously on this thread, unless you’re grinding up the stuff and inhaling daily it’s very unlikely you’ll have any health issues.

I had some specialist chums come round and take mine off, and they just cut the bolts securing the roof and bagged it up in see through polythene (can’t remember how thick it needs to be?), duct taped so it’s airtight to keep the HSE folk happy. No dust created, no broken sheets, easy money (or beer in this case!).

Simple DIY, just need to confirm your disposal options (or dig a big hole…).

thanks for that 🙂

Here’s a related question, scrotes of the carravan variety stole the lead flashing off our garrage, they were built in the 60’s and the roof is the “cement, maybe asbestos” type stuff. It’s just direclty resting on and screwed/bolted to joists running accross (perpendicular to the corugation) the garrage.

Quote from a roofer was £300 to re do it with rubber flashing, which seems to be £50 flashing and £250 labour absd on the cost of similar stuff from B&Q.

I’ve got 2 6mm 8ft x 1.5ft plywood planks than can be glued to make one stiff one, would those be enough to spread my weight? Rather irritatingly the walls are single skin brick and starting to collapse at the top so I cant just climb those!

Thread hijack…

My new house’s garage has panels in the ceiling that could be asbestos – they’re greyish with a slight shine to them, a bit like fibreglass or similar. In a couple of places where screws have been driven through, the panels are damaged (eg corners broken off).

What’s the best thing to do to check whether it’s asbestos and if so, remove it?

Find a testing company – either local and they’ll send someone to take samples, or online and you can get a “kit” and instructions telling you how to get a sample to send away. Then it goes to a testing lab and you get a report.

If it’s an integral garage and the house was built before the 90s, then it’s possible it’s Asbestos Insulating Board. This stuff’s pretty lethal compared to the garage roofs of this thread and it has very specific rules about its handling and removal. As with (most) asbestos, it it isn;t damaged then advice is generally to leave it alone.

How do I know this? My integral garage has an AIB ceiling. I’m going to have various work done to my house next year, and I’ll be sitting down when I get the quote for its removal (am expecting several thousand £).

Yep, built before the 90s (’75). Like I said previously there are some small bits of damage where things have been screwed into it.

What does it look like then?

What does it look like then?

Mine’s been painted over. But if I didn’t know, I’d guess it was plasterboard.

Deffo worth getting it tested to give you peace of mind.

AIB is naughty. It is hse notifiable and licensed only removal. As a “rule” tho if there are shiny flecks in the boarding it could be something more modern such as supalux.
Be careful if taking a sample.
And some of the advice above is bobbins, asbestosis and the like is similar to smoking, it kills some people it doesn’t kill others.

When I was about 14 I built a steam-powered model boat and because my dad had some lying around, I lined the engine compartment with thin asbestos cement sheet, which I cut up and filed to shape wearing no mask. I’m still alive 44 years later.

We’ve done our own 1930s garage roof and our neighbour’s, both asbestos cement corrugated sheet. You have to book the poly wrapping sheet out of the local dump, remove the sheets while spraying them liberally with water to suppress dust then wrap them up and book them back in at the dump, where you put them in a special skip. Pretty simple really and free of charge.

It cost me about £400 to have a 2.5 x 5 metre shed roof professionally removed (Newcastle) they also spotted and removed a length of asbestos guttering.

If you broke down the costs it would have probably been at least £150 for the labour, £100 for the expertise £100 for the disposal and £100 for peace of mind (especially for Mrs. oliverd). As the roof was going to have to go anyway testing would have been a waste of cash.

What was surprising was when they had to break up some of the panels to get them into the bags/the van there was much less dust than it’d expect I’d be pretty confident to do a DIY job now, especially on a rainy day, but our council won’t take any Asbestos whatsoever so this was the best solution for us.

Asbestos Insulating Board (mentioned above) and Asbestos Cement Sheet are very, very different things.

Just as an update, mine has been done.
The two lads did the job in an hour and a half. Now, I’m not saying that is a good thing and I’m waiting for the first downpour to see if it is sealed as I have my doubts about how the roof edges have been finished off.
Of greater concern (albeit unfounded, apparently) is that they just pulled the sheets off the roof. Some broke up, some didn’t. They were then tossed into the back of the flat bed truck.
No masks, no overalls, no vacuuming.
When I asked if the sheets needed to be bagged, they said not, as they were grade 2 so only 5% asbestos content and they didn’t make much dust. They invited me to speak to the office and I did. They said it was grade 1, only 1% and it’s only the dust that can cause a problem.
Anyway, I’ll leave this post archived as evidence of their work should I develop some disease in the future, as a result of sweeping out the garage off all the mud and moss left behind.
I hate the feeling of being sold a slick sales patter and not being convinced it’s been delivered.

As a “rule” tho if there are shiny flecks in the boarding it could be something more modern such as supalux.

Mine has shiny flecks. Recently confirmed as Chrysotile and Amosite eg the nasty stuff. The first guy round to quote said that the shiny flecks are the asbestos fibres…