# Forum Home Renovation Plumbing  Cutting fibro sheet under eves, what cutter to use?

## bookleaf

I am replacing the metal, square, downpipes on my 30+ YO house as most have rusted out and are leaking into the eve space.  
  Have one concealed downpipe (comes out the back of the gutter) that is only accessible from the tiles above or through the eves below, due to the add-on of a veranda.  My preference is to cut a hole in the bottom of the gutter for the new downpipe and seal up the existing outlet.  I have done this to another downpipe successfully at another part of the house where I can get access to the bottom of the gutter from below, but this one is just impossible to get to unless I cut a big hole in the metal veranda itself.  I want o get the water away from the gutter a quick as possible and do not want to run an almost flat pipe again in the eve space.
  I therefore plan to cut the existing square outlet from the back of the gutter as short as I can from the gutter and attach the new 90mm downpipe to this, via a 45deg bend going down through the eves to the wall, and then down to the existing pipe work. 
  My question is What do I use to cut the fibro sheeting that forms the underside of the eves? 
  I guess it as asbestos sheeting given the age of the house, so appropriate precautions will need to be taken. 
  I have considered the use of an angle grinder with a cut-off disc, to cut a square hole (for a round pipe!) but what sort of disk? 
  Any suggestions gratefully accepted

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## ringtail

*Nooooooooooooooooooo. Under no circumstances even consider using a grinder on it.* Take the entire sheet off by puching the nails or whatever proceedure is reccommended. Do what you have to do then replace the missing sheet with new hardiflex 4.5 mm cut to suit with fibro shears / score and snap knife.

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## Pulse

As ringtail said, grinding it into dust is not "appropriate precautions" replacing the sheet is the best option, to cut the circle use a tungsten carbide hole saw, he's gets dulled on fc cement, alternatively drill small holes in a circle and hammer out 
Cheers pulse

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## ozheat

If you want to leave the fibro in place I scribe a circle where I want the hole and then use an old philips head screcwdriver to punch some holes and then use a plugging chisel hitting it on its side to complete the circle.
You can use a pair of pliers or a tile nipper to tidy up. 
Another way is to punch a hole just big enough so you can get your piers in and  use that to do the complete hole.

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## jiggy

If you are going to do it yourself ,then make sure you take as many precautions as possible .Wear the proper mask, disposable suit , and gloves. Get a spray bottle and fill it with water and a good dollop of Pva  wood glue ,spray the area and punch a screwdriver through to make the hole required ,any time you break the surface give it another spray.  As far as disposal of the asbestos, thats a different matter. I double bag any bits i get and keep it in a seperate pile , when i have enough i take it to an approved tip

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## bookleaf

Thanks all for your advise.  
I can not remove the whole sheet as other structures block acces.  The only way would be to break/cut the existing sheet in half and remove that half sheet.  If I am going to do that, I might as well just put a hole in it as originally planned.
I have also discovered the "Asbestos" section and note all the good advice and suggestions there.
I think I will try to punch a hole and nibble it larger as suggested.
Thanks again.

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## ringtail

If making a hole, I use a small sparkies straight blade screwdriver ( rather than drill ) and punch a series of holes so I can break a small section out ( after wetting down ) then use pliers or end nips as suggested to do the rest. Good luck.

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