Today, we’re going to talk about the big no-no’s with asbestos. This is going to be a quick one and it’s just all about any of these things that you do, you can release asbestos fibers. And they’re so light, they will penetrate every part of your home. They’ll spread for ages, endangering people everywhere around you.
So,the number one no-no is do not ever, ever, ever cut asbestos with an angle grinder. We had a job about two years ago, where someone decided that they would cut asbestos with an angle grinder. We had to get specialists involved. Those people lost everything in their house. There was testing done by hygienists, from every corner of the house, and they found that the asbestos fibers were in the bedrooms, the lounge room, the kitchen, the rumpus room, the garage. The only safe thing to do was to… what we couldn’t decontaminate, we threw out. And the people in the house said, “You know what? We don’t want any of it. We don’t even want to have to wonder whether it is or not.” So that’s key, I can’t stress the importance of that.
Number two,you should never water blast any asbestos products. I know people have fences painted,the outside of their house, mold removal, and all that kind of stuff. High-pressure water blasting is a massive no-no. If you water blast asbestos roofs happen all the time, what that does is it erodes the surface, releases the shards and breaks down the fibers, and they just spread everywhere. Worst-case scenario, or not even worst-case scenario, typical standard procedure would be about 30-$40,000 cleanup if you water blast an asbestos roof. Big chunks of cement and asbestos just fly everywhere. It’s going to spray all over the neighbours, it’s going to go through your whole garden. Things like the garden will have to be ripped out, and the top 100 mils of soil and grass will come out. It’s a really big deal. That roof may have to be replaced if it can’t be encapsulated if it’s deemed too unsafe. So never water blast anything asbestos.
The other thing is don’t see it. Don’t go, “Oh, well, I’ve got this special fibro saw.” I guess you can buy the saws from Bunnings that’ll cut tiles and all that kind of stuff. So, I’m not saying that there are things that are out there that don’t exist, but you just can’t use them on asbestos. You definitely can’t cut it with a grinder, and definitely can’t water blast it, but you may be able to use a saw under controlled conditions if you’re trained and you’ve got the right equipment. But, a golden rule, do not see asbestos.
Another one that we see a lot is drilling into asbestos. We have equipment for that, it’s not a DIY thing. There are all these ridiculous things with shaving creams in coffee cups. And people are going to say,”Oh, that’s what we did.” But I can tell you what’s happened because we’ve tested it. We didn’t test it on asbestos sheeting, we tested it on just normal fibro. When you fill a cup with shaving cream and you put it against a wall and you drill, what happens is the first layer of dust that hits that shaving cream actually just forms a crust, and then all the other dust just hits up against it. So, when you pull the cup out, you have this dust. So just don’t. There’s a whole industry out there, including us, of people that are equipped to do that.
So, no water blasting, no cutting with grinders, no sawing of asbestos. And I’m going to put in there, and drilling holes. And I’m going to put in there, as well, no hole saws. Because someone’s going to go, “Oh, I’m not drilling, I’m putting in a hole saw.” A lot of electricians are fitting downlights into eaves. Okay, we see it alot. I was at a job yesterday where the electrician went with the 10 square meter rule and said, “It’s all right, I can drill these holes into your eaves, no worries, for your downlight, that’s great.” I spoke to the homeowner. She had no idea that her eaves could be asbestos. She said there was dust everywhere. The guy had it all over his face. It’s just massive, why? I don’t understand why anyone would risk it. We have equipment here at Coastal Asbestos, we can cut from 25 mils up to about 450 milround holes in asbestos sheeting. It’s specialised equipment. We’re trained, we’ve got all the gear, just call us. There’s no need for any electricians to be boring holes through asbestos eaves for downlights.
You’ve got two options. These are the only two options. Get someone who’s trained, professional, licensed and insured to do the work, or have the eaves removed. I guess there is option three, just don’t do it. So, I can’t stress the importance enough, all these things that we’re talking about turn something innate, that is just sitting there, into friable asbestos. And you don’t want to be messing around with friable asbestos. So that’s me, Jason from Coastal Asbestos. I hope you found that informative. If you like this video, there’s plenty more over on our YouTube channel: