Hey Mark,

The house I am buying was listed as having vinyl siding. However my inspector says that there is Asbestos siding underneath. He said it was ok, but I am still concerned about it. What do you think?

Tammy

Hey Tammy,
I’ve inspected two houses in the last week with the exact same situation. Here’s exactly what I said to them in their report:

“The home is sided with vinyl siding over cement siding. While this is an appropriate method of encapsulating this siding it is important for the home owner to be aware of its presence. These shingles are known to have been manufactured with “asbestos”. If exposed the home owner should look for cracks, holes, or missing pieces. Note that most of the time asbestos cement shingles are installed they are over an existing wall covering. These shingles may or may not be made of asbestos fibers, and the only way to know for sure is to send a piece to a lab.  If you wish to take these down and put up siding, it would be easier to just leave them on the house and install new insulation and new siding over them.  Removing them could be very expensive because they will have to contact the EPA to deal with the proper disposal of these shingles.  “

Hope that helps.

Mark

Mark Nahrgang is the owner of Kingdom Inspection Network Group – St. Louis and is a professional NACHI certified building inspector in the St. Louis metro area. Mark performs home inspections as well as commercial inspections throughout St. Louis and St. Charles County. If you are looking for a thorough and qualified St. Louis area home inspector, use the contact information on this site to contact Mark regarding available services.

Filed under: Asbestos, Siding