# Forum Home Renovation Asbestos  Fake brick cladding

## dynamicsguy

Hi all, been lurking for a while but this is my first post. 
We're looking at bidding on a weatherboard bungalow this weekend - see attached photo. The place is covered in awful fake brick cladding which we would remove. I hadn't even thought about it, but when booking a pest inspection they mentioned that this probably contained asbestos.  
Can anyone confirm whether this is the case? And if so, what would be the rough cost for professional removal? The house is roughly 10 x 15m, clad like this on all sides. It's in Melbourne.

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## Black Cat

A local person recently took a load of this stuff to the tip. They (the tip people) were unaware of the risk and accepted it. It cost them $7000 to get men in space suits to do a cleanup. So yes, there is a good chance that these also will contain asbestos. I think you can get a testing kit which you may be able to use uninvasively to see if this is the case in this instance (I gather not all brickboard carries the stuff). If not, then I would be very sure I had a lawyer draw up the conditions on any offer you choose to make on the property.

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## Bloss

:What he said:  If the cladding was before 1984 and it probably was then it will be on asbestos sheeting and all normal rules apply. In fact the owner is obliged by law in all jurisdictions I think to tell you - you should raise this with the agent if it not specifically referred to in the contract documents. It is not for you to do the testing but for the owner/ agent to advise. The building reports usually mention the usual places (eaves, wet areas) but this is a biggy and should be clearly identified - the agent and owner have a big potential problem if it is not and the auction proceeds, . Manageable and stable if left in place, but will be an added cost to remove - and Stickies before you'd do any work on it.  :Frown:

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## cherub65

Good chance there is fibro under the cladding as well, friends had same issue were the cladding had been applied over the top

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## Bloss

:What he said:  although commonly over weatherboard too.

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## SilentButDeadly

Been there, doing that, wouldn't do it again.  It almost certainly has asbestos. 
You'd be looking at needing three 20 cubic bins ($2,500 - $4,000), tipping fees for about 2-3 tonnes of material @ ~$150 per tonne plus your own time to do the job.  If you get a pro in to do the job expect a couple of hundred dollars per hour on top of the above.... 
If they've also used fake metal roofing tiles..................then start sprinting away now.

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## dynamicsguy

Thanks all. Apart from the cladding the house looks in great shape - getting inspections done tomorrow. I was planning to bail up the agent about it before the auction, but at that ballpark cost we're happy to bid and price it into what we're willing to pay. The tiles are genuine  :Smilie:

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## PVS

WOW what a small world!!! I live in this street, actaully just a few houses down, so this means we may potentially become neighbours????  :Biggrin:  
I believe that it is quite common for asbestos to be used in fake cladding, but the house appears to be in absolutely excellent condition. I knew the owner, old Italian man who sadly passed away, and the house has always been very well looked after.  
The agent, John, is pretty good, he has been an agent with the local area for years, so if you ask him I'm sure he will tell you what he can. 
I will be one of the local neighbours loitering around the auction on Saturday  :Smilie:  it is a beautiful street to live in, I have been there for 27 years and loved every minute. 
Good luck!!

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## Black Cat

Pink carnations in lapels guys? lol

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## PVS

> Pink carnations in lapels guys? lol

  ??????

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## SilentButDeadly

The Cat is suggesting a way of quietly identifying yourself to each other in the street....a bit like going on an internet date. 
Frankly I prefer to deal with asbestos.....but each their own!

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## dynamicsguy

> Pink carnations in lapels guys? lol

  I didn't pick PVS from the crowd, but we won the auction so I'm sure we'll meet soon.

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## PVS

Right I get it now, although carnation in the lapel wouldn't have quite worked for me, being a female and all!!Congrats dynamicsguys!!! I was there at the beginning of the the auction, was chatting to the auctioneer, wasn't there for the end but my fiance was, and he said a youngish looking couple bought it!!! When do you settle? I am always walking up and down so when I see you around the front I will be sure to introduce myself and say hello. Happy to fill you in on the local area too if you like!

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## Bloss

> The Cat is suggesting a way of quietly identifying yourself to each other in the street....a bit like going on an internet date. 
> Frankly I prefer to deal with asbestos.....but each their own!

  You'd be the bloke in the dusk mask and Tyvek suit then?  :Biggrin:   :Wink:

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## SilentButDeadly

> You'd be the bloke in the dusk mask and Tyvek suit then?

  ....if that's what turns you on  :Wink 1:

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## quercus

Well done on getting the house. I bought an almost identical one 6 years ago in Brunswick. I didn't realise at first that the fake cladding was probably asbestos. My father in law and brother helped me smash a bit of it up to put in a window the first weekend we moved in! 
After I realised what it really was, I set about removing the rest from the front of the house with my Wife. Since I own a truck we opted not to get a bin. Bins cost a fortune for asbestos, and all they are is a normal bin that you have to plastic line yourself. 
We kitted up with disposable P3 respirators and clothes that are rated for asbestos - not the ones from the supermarket! She kept a hose running constantly over the walls as I gently levered the sheets off. We double wrapped them 4 at a time , then put the packs into the plastic lined tip truck, which has to be duct taped shut. That went off to a tip in Mernda which is licensed to take it. Total cost about $100 ! 
Later, when we demolished the rear of the house I opted for a demolition guy who was a "licensed asbestos removalist"  . 
 I arrived one day when they had started,  to find his guys wearing masks that he probably got at Super Cheap Auto. They were smashing up the asbestos wtih shovels and picking it up with a bobcat, dumping it into a skip in the street. I held my breath and ran. I should have then reported it to worksafe, but didnt. 
The moral is, be very wary about the competency of the removalist you use. When they are doing it, make sure you are out of town.

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## dynamicsguy

To close the loop on this thread, we had the horrible stuff removed last month. It cost about $5500 to get it professionally removed and disposed of, including the eave linings. Underneath the weatherboards are in good shape (and are a delightful shade, with some orange sections around the back). 
Since this was done we've demolished the porch and had the place re-levelled. There's a brickie around now building some Cal bungalow-style tapered columns, then a timber porch will go in. Next step will be a new entry and timber windows.

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## djmvc

> Been there, doing that, wouldn't do it again.  It almost certainly has asbestos. 
> If they've also used fake metal roofing tiles..................then start sprinting away now.

  Hi,
Just wondering why you mentioned the fake metal roofing tiles as an issue?
Do these contain something we should know about?

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## Bobnbet

Great job guys, I own a house with the fake stuff too, endeavoring to remove it myself, hoping not to cost $5500! The cladding I'm replacing to it is only $3600. 
How's yours looking now?

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## stevoh741

Why would anyone want to cover those weatherboards with hidious lookalike brick cladding???????? Should be a law against that sort of thing

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## plum

Door to door pressure tactics....

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## Bloss

> Hi,
> Just wondering why you mentioned the fake metal roofing tiles as an issue?
> Do these contain something we should know about?

  This was more a comment about the tastelessness I think than any danger. Metal roof tiles were of a few types in Australia - older ones were plain pressed steel painted (sometimes with lead-based paints) and some were gal pressed steel and painted too (with or without lead-based paints). You can tell these as the paint started to wear through at around 20 years or so (with re-coats lasting around 10 years). 
In the late '60s and early '70s a new type was introduced which were gal pressed steel with an asphalt (tar) covering with embedded aggregate. There were also pressed aluminium (painted or plain) roof tiles and eventually zincalume colourbond tiles too. Aside from the paint issue - which applies to all paints there was no asbestos in the asphalt on the metal tiles so far as I am aware. There was asbestos in various asphalt shingles/ tiles on the market though.

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## seriph1

Potentially a very nice calabunga. Typical of homes in melbourne and in particular the northern suburbs. There are a lot of great books and even periodicals on bungalow style homes. There are ones focused on interiors and even a few which specialise in bathroom and kitchen renovations.  
My first home is a bungalow. They are wonderful and even modest ones can be made very handsome when treated appropriately... 
Anyway, PM me if you'd likemore info on them or some referrals. 
Have fun.

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## SilentButDeadly

> This was more a comment about the tastelessness I think than any danger. Metal roof tiles were of a few types in Australia - older ones were plain pressed steel painted (sometimes with lead-based paints) and some were gal pressed steel and painted too (with or without lead-based paints). You can tell these as the paint started to wear through at around 20 years or so (with re-coats lasting around 10 years). 
> In the late '60s and early '70s a new type was introduced which were gal pressed steel with an asphalt (tar) covering with embedded aggregate. There were also pressed aluminium (painted or plain) roof tiles and eventually zincalume colourbond tiles too. Aside from the paint issue - which applies to all paints there was no asbestos in the asphalt on the metal tiles so far as I am aware. There was asbestos in various asphalt shingles/ tiles on the market though.

  Spot on.  But there are practical issues as well.  The damn things are often layed directly over the existing roofing material!! In my case, corrogated iron.  Dozy buggers had simply nailed hardwood tile battens straight into the existing tin and then fixed the tiles to them.  In most cases, the only thing holding the tiles down was their own weight and the connection between nail and corrogated iron as they weren't often nailed into an underlying roof batten.  I found that I could lift a whole rows of tiles off the roof just by lifting the one of the battens they were fixed - which required almost no effort.   How the winds didn't do it before I did I'll never fully comprehend...

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## Bloss

Yes there were 'Dodgy Bros roofing guys' going door to door at the same time as the 'Dodgy Bros siding' guys as well as the 
'Dodgy Bros "we'll spray your whole house with some thickish gunk and you'll never have to paint again"' mob - and the quality from all were ordinary at best and damn poor mostly. I did a job for my painter uncle as a teenager in the 60s which involved removing such a coating from walls of a brick house didn't have to do the roof as the coating had washed off after 2-years and the walls came clean using a regular hose nozzle and a wire brush. Easy enough, but a bugger of a job.

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