Roofing over asbestos shingles?

[derosa]

The church I'm pastor of has a small but growing roofing problem, the now 85 year old asbestos shingles are starting to crack and the nails are starting to give way. Can a steel roof be laid down over the top of it or will a tear off be a requirement.
If a tear off is required, is this something where the church, like a homeowner can self remove and bury or will it require a whole abatement process? It would be nice to not have to kick the can down the road by just going over the top of it but the congregation is on the older side and money for a small, rural congregation is always a little tight.

 

[Stuart in MN]

Self removal of asbestos is regulated on a state by state (or possibly even locality) basis. You'll have to check state and local regulations for your area. Note that people will start telling you how they do it 'around here' - you can ignore them.

In general, covering up asbestos is considered okay, but again this needs to be confirmed with local regulations.

 

[rlitman]

"Around here" would be New York State. Self removal of asbestos is not regulated.
Disposal is, BUT your town will have a Household Hazardous Waste program that accepts asbestos. If you are not familiar with your town's program, you can call your region of the state DEC and inquire about it:
http://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/8781.html

In my town, they accept HHW about 8 days a year, and asbestos just requires double bagging.
Note that your shingles are much less friable than asbestos insulation.

 

[6768rogues]

A homeowner can remove asbestos in NY without any regulation. However, that does not mean that it is somehow less injurious to the people removing it or anyone in the immediate area. Think about dropping it on the ground and later mowing the lawn, every time making it airborne. Since it is church property, it is likely that it is not under the exemption for a homeowner on his own property.
In NY, any disturbance of asbestos is an asbestos project. If a piece is laying on the ground, it is ok there forever. If you pick it up, you disturbed it and you are doing an asbestos project. You cannot legally nail through it, drill it, or disturb it in any way. Your project will be visible and can impact other people, so I would have it professionally done, paying what it cost. If you contaminate the site and some people, there is not enough money available in your lifetime to cover cleanup and monitoring of peoples' health, not to mention health problems.
FYI, I am in NY and I was our county's asbestos supervisor several years ago, before retiring.

 

[Casey69]

talk about an overblown fear issue. no one will get lung cancer from picking up & moving an asbestos shingle, nor will your neighbors get cancer if you remediate this yourself and some dust blows around. you probably inhale more asbestos driving down a busy street with your windows open, or changing your brake pads. that said, this isn't a residential property & you need to research this before tearing off the roof. if you do, use a good respirator & toss your clothes when finished. the vast majority of folks who get asbestos-related lung cancer are those have continually worked with it without protection & are smokers.

 

[derosa]

Thanks for the replies, I'll check with the county on the details.

 

[Markfothebeast]

I did asbestos abatement. We did jobs that required a permit for removal of siding and shingles as well. The PPM was so minor that it legally never required PPE for most jobs but still a permit. It was a basic tear off. No special equipment required. You're not going to kill anyone with it. The state got their $500 for a permit and were satisfied. There's still traces of asbestos in products like drywall.

My dad and grandfather both worked with heavy amounts asbestos at 3M and never died from it. I have little fear of something like asbestos shingles or siding. Wet the shingles with a hose and wear a respirator and throw-away cloth body suit if you're afraid. Water keeps the exposure level down since there's lesser dust blowing around.

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[Markfothebeast]

In both the states I border on, the homeowner cannot remove asbestos if I recall. One homeowner attempted to remove it and covered the entire house with it; furniture, carpet, etc. He was kind of screwed at that point. But that was purely asbestos insulation. It's simply crushed rock. Shingles are far less potent.

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