# Forum Home Renovation Asbestos  Possible to remove joining strips and putty?

## Margaret Lynch

Hi there, I hate those strips that cover the joins in fibro sheeting. I don't really want to take it all out. Is it possible to pull the strips off and use some putty or similar to fill gap? Will it be smooth or will there visibly be a rough strip on the wall? 
And if it is rough, what is the alternative? Can you out gyprock over the top without having to widen the door frames?

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## Bloss

I have done this successfully in the past - with both aluminium strips and plastic strips. Plastic is easier - with care a stanley knife or a sharp chisel can simply slice the top off and it can be filled and painted - or tiled over. Any filler should be flexible, but a simple acrylic filler like NoMoreGaps is fine. Usual care on safety gear.

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## amiaow

If you use putty to fill the gaps, they will crack with house movement and you will get cracks in your walls where the joins are. Unfortunately it is not the best solution. 
For very small areas, I have paper taped the joins like a plaster sheet and this has withstood a few years of the elements now (in my front porch at the top of the stairs) and seems to be fine, but I wouldn't recommend this approach for a whole house. 
You can gyprock over the top, but then you have the issue of window reveals/door jambs being the wrong size and you still can't drill into the walls to hang hooks etc. 
So the realistic options are to
- Remove the fibro and re-gyprock the room, which provides a great opportunity to add insulation
- Live with the fibro and don't worry about the look of the joins. 
I'd probably take option 2 unless you are planning to live in your house for a looong time!

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## shauck

Supposed to have a 6mm gap between sheets, then (flexible) joint sealant is the go but also supposed to have bond breaker tape behind the joint to stop the sealant adhering to the stud and only to the two adjacent sheets. This makes what you are contemplating possible to fail to some degree. I am not an expert, just stating what the company selling the product has on it's installation PDF. 
As Bloss says, he has done it and it has worked so....

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## Bloss

Just to make my context clear - the preferred option would be to remove asbestos sheeting (if that's what it is - and likely it seems) or even the later non-asbestos sheets too, and add insulation ect and put gyprck or fibro sheeting back, but for costs the OP does not want to do that. An alternative is what I suggested - and the installation guides for modern fibro sheeting doesn't apply. This is a 'near enough is good enough fix' that will look OK, but not perfect, and will last for many years and at a fraction of the cost of any remove & replace.

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## shauck

> Just to make my context clear - the preferred option would be to remove asbestos sheeting (if that's what it is - and likely it seems) or even the later non-asbestos sheets too, and add insulation ect and put gyprck or fibro sheeting back, but for costs the OP does not want to do that. An alternative is what I suggested - and the installation guides for modern fibro sheeting doesn't apply. This is a 'near enough is good enough fix' that will look OK, but not perfect, and will last for many years and at a fraction of the cost of any remove & replace.

  Cool. Also agree about remove and insulate. Have lived in a fibro house without insulation and whatever the weather is outside, it is nearly the same inside unless you crank up the heat/cooling (if it's got anything decent).  
On the removal of strips, just my opinion but, we (owner builder and myself) investigated sealant joints as an option on her house and I can tell you it can look pretty average. Admittedly I didn't have a go of it myself to try and perfect it but even if you did a great job of it, nails will be seen. She changed her mind after trying it and decided to use cover straps. I was a bit relieved.

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## polony

Hi Margaret, sounds as tho' we have a similar bathroom set-up. The asbestos sheeting in mine is joined with ?aluminium strips which I gather are an H shape as they are not wanting to budge. As I have a verry small bathroom I have decided to replace the sheeting with something like Villaboard but if anyone has other suggestions I would love to hear them, thanks !    :Rolleyes:

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## Bloss

Same issue really - I have used a Fein to carefully remove the aluminium section at the front flush with the asbestos then tiled over - but best option when looking at a major reno is always to remove the asbestos.

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