how to prep asbestos siding for painting?

13 years ago

Hi there everyone. I am wondering if it is enough to use a garden hose to rinse and prep asbestos siding for painting. I am thinking a pressure washer might disturb the asbestos too much. And how do I clean off an area that is greenish where a shrub used to be?

Or is there a low setting on a pressure washer, a friend is loaning me one for the wood parts of the house.

And what brand and type of primer should I use?

All of your knowledge and feedback is appreciated. Thanks!

Featured Answer

ionized_gw

11 years ago

Congratulations, asbestos/cement siding is durable, holds paint exceptionally well and is fire-proof. It is hard to top!

Pressure washers are over-rated. Use a long-handled brush and detergent. Use bleach for stuff that is growing (green). Use TSP with both if you can get it in your area. Use the carbonate TSP substitute if you can't find real (phosphate) TSP.

I am not kidding about the advantages of that siding. It does have some disadvantages. It breaks easily, but you can get non-asbestos replacements and some people sell off the removed stuff to those who need it. There are ample resources on the web to tell you how to work with it most safely. You should keep it wet.

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Comments (7)

lucillle
13 years ago
I think you should get, in writing, not from us, advice from someone who both knows what the law may say on this and who will be around when a third party may call you out on something you have done.
jwheatie
13 years ago
There is a primer from xim that we used on 'asphalt tile' (floor), which is known to contain asbestos:

http://www.ximbonder.com/products_detail.asp?id=33

then we painted over with BM porch and floor paint.

I wouldn't pressure wash. We just gently washed with a mild detergent (we used simple green, although in retrospect I would have used the - rubbing alcohol, - h20 - vinegar solution) and put on the XIM primer. It's held up really well (not totally perfect) and we are glad the crazy potential chemical (asbestos!) is sealed in, under this layer of primer/paint.
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ahassel4u
13 years ago
I recently moved into an asbestos-sided "fixer" and there's no budget for residing anytime soon. I had green mildew in several spots which I removed with bleach/Mr Clean and a scrubber brush. I also have areas of flaking paint which I am in the process of addressing - I wait for a windy day, wear a respirator, remove loose paint with a scraper (gently), and then feather the paint edges with sponge sander. Slow going, but the prep work is what will make the paint job last.
arbpdl
11 years ago
I've used XIM Bonder for other things and it's great, but for this situation, what about Peel Bond? Would one be preferable? I'm just thinking if there is any delamination on the siding, the "glue" properties of these primers would resolve that. I just don't know which one would work better.
Katherine Terra
6 years ago
Just a heads up, bleach and phosphate are not good in the water run off - the bleach is really hard on surrounding plants and the phosphate gets into the stormwater run off... when it enters nearby water ways it sparks algae blooms. The algae sucks up all the oxygen in the water and can cause ecosystem collapses. There's some good alternatives that help keep life thriving: white vinegar is good on mold, and a good diy cleanser is to mix biodegradeable, non-phosphate dish or laundry soap with borax, and/or vinegar. Citrus essential oils mixed in are really great at getting sticky residue off and they're antimicrobial / antifungal.
ionized_gw
6 years ago
Katherine, can you show me some data showing the vinegar is a fungicide or retards growth of fungus (mold)? From what i've seen, to kill tested species, straight or nearly straight vinegar (5% acetic acid off the shelf). I suppose it might be cost effective to wash a few thousand square feet of siding and roofing at $2.50/gallon if it is effective. Maybe it is less expensive to buy it by the drum.

How about the quantitative contribution of washing siding with TSP on phosphates in some watershed? Do you have any information about that? If the phosphate is a problem, you can certainly use the carbonate salt instead, but it won't work as well. You plants may well use up the phosphate before it can get into the ground water or surface run-off. Even before removal of phosphate from routine household cleaning agents, I wonder what its contribution to the watershed problems was compared to fertilizer use.

Sodium hypochlorite (bleach) is not running anywhere. It reacts immediately with organic material in the soil. Think about the effectiveness of bleach as a disinfectant on dirty surfaces (compared to clean surfaces as directed). It is not great, requiring use of a lot more because it gets inactivated by the soil on the material you want to disinfect.) Basically it is gone as soon as it hits quantitatively significant organic material

I've seen essential oils listed as effective pesticides, but I have not found any listings for fungicidal, algicidal or bactericidal use. Can you point me to some results from a recognized, authoritative testing agency.

I have looked for damage on plants splashed with activated (alkalinized) sodium hypochlorite solutions. I've never found any. I think it is an urban legend, but maybe I will intentionally try to damage some foliage to see what it takes. Will you join in that endeavor? I suggest some range of bleach dilutions starting with "disinfectant bleach" since that has concentration certified as sufficient. Other variables might include a wetting of the plants before exposure and washing post exposure.