How To Nail Asbestos Siding

Remove pieces of siding by pulling nails or cutting nail heads so as to minimize breakage.

How to nail asbestos siding.

Asbestos shingles are relatively strong but brittle. Pry out nails and remove whole pieces of siding. If cement shingles have to be cut use the manufacturer s recommended cutting tool not a power saw that will make a lot of dust. The house is a cape cod built in 1950 and has wonderful asbestos siding on it which i recently had painted.

Now that you have your backer board up and set firmly in place you can put the siding up safely without worrying about the asbestos falling down behind the siding. When you nail siding to the house remember to nail the siding loose. You can t drive screws and nails through them without pre drilling. The plastic is used to create a barrier to the elements as well as prevents the siding from rubbing against the painted asbestos siding.

Each piece of siding overlaps the piece below it so when you remove 1 piece it will expose the nails attaching the piece below it to the building. This siding is in 100 perfect condition the entire way around the house. Line up the nail holes between the old upper layer cement asbestos shingles and the new fiber cement shingles to be secured underneath. Use a flat pry bar to pull out the nails and remove the pieces of siding carefully as they come loose.

This would trigger dust and asbestos dust is a problem as i ve mentioned. If necessary carefully lift siding pieces with pry tool to expose nail heads. I ve searched this diy forum for some tips on drilling asbestos siding but the closest i found was folks discussing cutting holes in asbestos siding. Breakage releases asbestos fibers.

Place the top edge of the plastic sheeting at the top of the exterior wall above the siding. If siding should begin to crack or crumble immediately wet the cracked or broken areas with the pint size spray bottle or garden pump sprayer.