Shared Asbestos Roof Shed

Dick_here

Help please !

We've got a brick built shed with an asbestos roof. Trouble is, so have our neighbours - in fact, the roof is shared covering both our sheds. As they're an older couple who aren't there much anyway, I can't imagine they'd be interested in sharing the cost of removing it. As we've got a child, it is a concern to us though. Is it true though that asbestos isn't really a problem provided it is left as it is, or should we try for immediate removal ? Any ideas of the cost of removal, I assume it's a specialist job ? Is there any way I can insist on the work being done and the neighbours paying half ?

a&akay

Look in your council amenity site. The one in Chesterfield has a skip for asbestos cement sheets only, which is likely on yours. In which case DIY but without cutting the sheets in any way.

Toiletduck

!!!!!!_here wrote: »

Help please !

We've got a brick built shed with an asbestos roof. Trouble is, so have our neighbours - in fact, the roof is shared covering both our sheds. As they're an older couple who aren't there much anyway, I can't imagine they'd be interested in sharing the cost of removing it. As we've got a child, it is a concern to us though. Is it true though that asbestos isn't really a problem provided it is left as it is, or should we try for immediate removal ? Any ideas of the cost of removal, I assume it's a specialist job ? Is there any way I can insist on the work being done and the neighbours paying half ?

If it just sits there you have nothing to worry about. The health risks from asbestos come from inhaling the dust (do not cut or drill it without protection) over a substantial period of time. You could dismantle it yourself if you can manage to do it without creating dust. Spray it with water to stop dust forming. Disposing of the waste could be expensive though. My parents just paid around £100 for the council to dispose of an old gas flu so I guess a garage would be alot more.

lilac_lady

Contact your local council. They'll send someone out to view it and give advice. Don't remove it yourself, it's not worth the risk.

Dick_here

Thanks guys. Any thoughts on whether I'd be able to insist on removal, even if the neighbours weren't interested ? Would the council enforce it if they were made aware ?

Be_Happy

We were in similar position when we had our half of a shared garage roof replaced a few years ago. As part of the work, roofing company removed the asbestos from our section of the roof. Asbestos removal part of total cost was £200 and we got a removal certificate from the Council dump the asbestos was taken to.

Roof repair turned out to be a disaster and roof leaks as badly as ever. Company has now gone out of business, but at least asbestos has been removed.

Don't think you could insist on the asbestos removal as most of the garage roofs in this area have it and a large number of them are council owned. It seems if you don't interfere with it, it causes no harm.

Dick_here

Surely removing your half of a roof is the worst solution in terms of the asbestos ? I'd rather leave it as it is than have it fiddled with but the neighbours' half still remains !

Be_Happy

Was assured it was safe as the way asbestos was placed it could be removed as whole sheets without cutting into neighbours.

economiser

Are you sure it is asbestos? Asbestos went out of use many, many years ago and since then other fibre cement materials have replaced asbestos. I don't know how you tell the difference as they look the same to the untrained eye but fibre cement is a lot cheaper to get rid of.

Dick_here

The surveyor mentioned it as being asbestos on the Homebuyer's Report. I assume he knows the difference.

Ellidee

We had a workman here a few months ago to do a job unrelated to asbestos but he asked us if we realised our garage roof was asbestos. He had been on a course which taught him how to recognise it.