Use slow deliberate strokes to keep dust down.
How to safely cut asbestos siding.
Have a helper move a running hose to follow the rasp while cutting.
Asbestos siding as it is on a house is perfectly safe.
Cut a 45 degree bevel onto the edge joint of asbestos cement siding with a large carpenter s rasp.
4 1 2 diamond blade in a grinder.
Let the siding dry then prime and paint with the best exterior latex you can find.
If necessary carefully lift siding pieces with pry tool to expose nail heads.
Cut asbestos cement corrugated roofing material with a pair of heavy dolphin nosed tin snips.
Breakage releases asbestos fibers.
Use slow deliberate strokes with the saw under water trickling from a hose pipe.
If you absolutely have to cut it do not use power tools.
Wet the siding and start your cutting.
Lead paint wasn t outlawed until 1978 so it s sure to be present on siding going back to the 1950s.
Asbestos shingles are relatively strong but brittle.
Covering old asbestos shingles with new siding may seem like an option too but it s not easy to do safely.
Have a helper move a running hose to follow the rasp while cutting.
Use a hand saw with a water stream and wear a good quality dust mask.
Remove pieces of siding by pulling nails or cutting nail heads so as to minimize breakage.
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.
Asbestos dust which is what would be created by sawing it is the dangerous part.