Cut Hole In Asbestos Siding

The outside is covered with asbestos siding.

Cut hole in asbestos siding.

Asbestos siding as it is on a house is perfectly safe. Mark the cut line with a pencil and straightedge. Asbestos dust which is what would be created by sawing it is the dangerous part. Use a dry masonry blade in your circular saw the abrasive kind used to cut brick block.

I know that this stuff is supposed to be safe as long as it s not crumbling but at some point i might want to make holes in it to add a kitchen or bathroom vent or maybe even add a window. The adjustable hole cutters from hole pro have tungsten carbide blades and i have cut 7 holes in asbestos and fiber cement board hardie certainteed etc using this hole cutter and a 18 volt cordless drill. Smooth off jagged edges with a sharp carpenter s rasp to keep asbestos particle sizes as large as possible. Note however that if either thermal system insulation tsi or asbestos containing surfacing materials are subject to disturbance by any drilling cutting abrading sanding chipping breaking or sawing then the additional engineering control of isolating the class iii work area is always required per 1926 1101 g 9 iii.

If you absolutely have to cut it do not use power tools. The house was built in the 1920s but i have no idea how old the siding is. But here s how you do it. Cut asbestos cement corrugated roofing material with a pair of heavy dolphin nosed tin snips.