You may not know it, but you can find asbestos in almost every wall, furniture, or door of an old residential or industrial building, and even in outdoor materials such as fences and roofs. It can be a dangerous sight and a more harmful thing to have with you, as you’re exposed to all kinds of harmful materials inside that you might inhale without even noticing. You could have serious health problems from this nasty little thing, and the worst part is, you won’t even know it until it’s too late.
So ask yourself, do you have an asbestos fence? If so, then look no further because we provide the fastest and safest
asbestos removal in Sydney. Contact Fast Asbestos Removal today for a FREE quote for our services!
To understand the importance of asbestos, we need to first look at the history of how asbestos products came to be and where you can supposedly find them in your homes. For starters, they have been widely used for proper insulation, soundproofing, and fireproofing in commercial, industrial, and residential buildings and structures. Many houses built before the 90s were dominant in having asbestos products in their homes, primarily in cement materials, internal and external wall claddings, ceilings, and fences. (1)
In Australia however, the fall of asbestos materials was earlier than other places, as they were starting to be phased out as early as the 80s, and by the early 2000s, the use, manufacture, trade, and storage of all asbestos-related products were completely banned.
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Asbestos can cause a lot of health problems for homeowners and other individuals if they happen to have any asbestos related products in their buildings. For one, it can cause an increased risk of developing lung cancer in the future, with most people developing symptoms at least 15 years after their exposure. Although the people who are at the highest risk are mostly workers, it doesn’t mean that you are safe from the hazards that asbestos imposes. (2)
Aside from lung cancer, you could also develop another lung disease called
asbestosis, a condition where some of the fibres from asbestos get lodged within your lungs and could cause scarring and difficulty of breathing as the condition progresses. Usually, the symptoms you could be having are shortness of breath and a chronic cough from time to time. Typically, you can experience it after 10 - 20 years after an exposure, and continually worsen. As of the moment, there is no effective treatment for it, so we highly recommend that you get rid of or replace any asbestos related products you may have in your home to greatly lessen the risk of any asbestos related diseases you may have in the future.
In all honesty, you don’t have to necessarily remove your asbestos cement if it’s already been placed before. They have actually been found to be very durable and can last for many years. However, business owners are required by law to manage the amount of asbestos they have on their site or business location. This includes monitoring, maintenance, and safety checks on the use of asbestos cement if it’s completely safe for use. If they feel that it is no longer in adequate condition and needs extensive repairs, then that’s the time they can decide to remove it altogether. (3)
As for homeowners, if they want to remove asbestos cement on their fence, they can do so by themselves without outside help, but we do not recommend going about it on your own because of how time consuming it is to do and you might not have the right tools for it. It’s better if you leave it up to professionals like us to do the job for you.
To give a run down, if you don’t know what these two are, Super Six is a type of corrugated fiber cement that has been used in Australia for more than four decades, particularly in roofing and fencing. As time went by, people began to also use Hardifence cement, a cellulose-based fibre cement made from wood pulp that was proven to be much safer, as it eliminated the asbestos fibres previously found in the Super Six cement, allowing homeowners to not have to worry about the burden and harmful health implications that they can get from asbestos. (4)
It can be quite difficult at first to tell the difference between these two, as they are practically the same when it comes to looks. Running through the basics, we can tell you that Super Six contains asbestos materials in its build, while modern hardifence does not.
To further understand their differences, we’re going to take a look at few characteristics we need to take into consideration when looking at both:
Like when checking for asbestos products in your homes, the age of your house can be a factor as well in determining whether Super Six or Hardifence material were used. If your house was built starting from the 90s onwards, then it is more likely to use Hardifence cement, as the former was only more popular in the 60s - 70s era. However, This doesn’t mean that all modern houses are using Hardifence cement, so it is still advisable to check just to be sure.
You can actually spot which material was used through the number of ridges the cement has. If it only contains 5 ridges, then it is a Hardifence cement, while if it contains 7 ridges, then it is considered as Super Six. It’s pretty easy to miss, so make sure to have a keen eye about those differences.
The capping of the fence can also be used to spot the type of cement. Today, Hardifence has regularly fitted their fences with metal capping on top, which means that there is no asbestos material to it as well. If the fence contains fibre cement capping though, then it was most likely made with Super Six fencing.
It’s not very different at first, but if you have a good sense of touch and can feel the difference, you’ll notice that Hardifence is slightly softer than Super Six. Also, if you can be able to make a small dent on it, then it’s likely that it’s also the former too.
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