bondipom

Can we sue Carol Smilie for that one?

soapy©

no, cos that means we would have to listen to her

Wol

Yes, many people are familiar with "Fibro" only from Clive James's books about his childhood homes - but Fibro is sheeting made from cement plus fibres: often asbestos.

ALL the forms of asbestos are not equally harmful. But fibro is used in probably most Oz houses built prior to the nineties, as soffits, ceilings, internal partitions and so on.

We agreed a house purchase the other day but withdrew after the inspection reported the presence of fibro (there were many other reasons too).

I wonder if the politicians have any idea of the consequences of making a house unsaleable when it has any kind of asbestos in it? There could be an explosion of places on the market over the next few months to get rid of houses which would be such under the legislation. Watch this space.....

soapy©

i sell about 3 sets of fibro cutters a day !!!!
I try to warn them but most couldnt be arsed listening

Quinkana

The hazard is well known in Australia.
NSW Legislative Council Hansard - ASBESTOS

"By the beginning of the 1990s the number of recognised victims of this tragedy has passed 500 ..."

"Vermiglio, a small town in Italy, has a corner of its cemetery called ‘Wittenoom’, in memory of its residents who died as a result of working in CSR’s mine (many of them died after returning to live in the town during the 1970s and 1980s)."

CSR Wittenoom Blue Asbestos Mine, Pilbara, Western Australia

Quinkana

Good to warn about old asbestos cement panel.

These days the cutters are more likely to be used to cut cellulose cement panel - aka fibro.

Simone

Ah, Wittenoom, a ghost town now....
Should now become more touristy with the Hamersley Ranges/Karajiji NP...


I think our shed here is nearly all asbestos.... We don't really use it though.

Wol

So is my info wrong? I was told that "Fibro" is the generic name for all the panels - rather like a "Hoover" or "Biro" takes in all makes.

Quinkana

"Fibro" is the generic name for all the panels - yes, whether asbestos of other fibre.

In the early 1990's the ACT Government paid ~$200M to remove asbestos insulation from house ceilings.

The main remaining risk in housing is people sanding asbestos cement panels during renovations. They are periodically warned. Breaking up the panels is not such a high risk.

DagBoy

We have just bought an old Queenslander and some of the internal partitions and so on are old fibro (we are talking about a house built in the 1920s so almost certainly asbestos). Most of the house has been done and the fibro replaced - for the bits that still need doing we will be finding some young macho lads who will rip it all out for $10 an hour

Oh OK - I lie. We will be paying serious money for a serious specialist contractor and getting all the old fibro safely removed.

Mind you, the attitude here is not so very different to the way it was in the UK 25 years ago. In one of my early summer jobs when I was still at school I was helping to clad a steel frame shed out of old corrugated asbestos sheeting and we were cutting it and drilling it with just a face mask :scared:

Cheers,

DagBoy

bondipom

The current DIY generation will be the next lot of cancer sufferers. Just drilling for wall plugs could make the fibres airborne.

As for the pink slips. I think land value is the term Real Estate agents use. It would get rid of a lot of shoddy housing that went up at the same time that fibro become popular. How it would work in pracise is another matter especially when you consider the failures of the current self certification schemes. One of Mr Triguboffs (Meriton) blocks is up for a few million in fire safety improvements. The building had been certified by a private company so Meriton does not have to pay. The apartment owners have to cough up.

Anyone know of any asbestos removal companies on the ASX?

kath n kim

We have been horrified by the amount of asbestos we found has been used in so many houses here. It's not just a problem in very old properties, many houses that were built in the 70's still have asbestos panels, soffits etc in them, and even if you have them removed, it is often not done very carefully, so the dust still remains or becomes airborne in your house. Often schools and kindergartens have asbestos used somewhere in the building too, you make sure your children's homes are safe, but what about when they are out of your sight? There is going to be a huge problem when these buildings are demolished too, what happens about the poor people living next door, downwind of the bulldozers?? Many builders here don't treat asbestos with the respect it demands, and just try to get the job done before the authorities realise there is any asbestos in the building (or very often the authorities just turn a blind eye anyway..). Hope it's not me, or you whose living next door at the time....

soapy©

thats strange, because about 25 years ago i was working on a house in paisley scotland
i was drilling a hole, when my boss ran up and grabbed the drill off me. told the guy who owned the house that our work was finished and he would have to report that the house had asbestos. so it was quite good then in scotland. i would have thought england would have been the same?

soapy