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Fences, sheds, garages and what is in the soil

Back-yard asbestos gets treated casually because it is outdoors and familiar. It is also the material most likely to be broken, weathered and handled without a second thought.

A back yard with four numbered points: a fibro fence shared with the neighbouring property, a shed or garage roof, fragments buried in the soil that surface when someone digs, and a fence sheet cracked by storm damage. Outdoor asbestos is treated casually because it is in the open air and familiar, but it is also the most weathered asbestos on a property: decades of sun and rain degrade the cement matrix, and a broken sheet sheds material at ground level, exactly where children and pets are. A shared fence is a conversation with the neighbour before it is a job, buried fragments cannot be sealed or painted the way a sheet can, and storm-damaged material should be left alone and reported rather than picked up. — It is outdoors and familiar, which is exactly why it gets handled more casually than anything indoors.

Outdoors is not the same as harmless

For a great many Australian households the asbestos on the property is not in the house at all. It is the fence between them and the neighbour, the shed at the back, the garage roof. Or fragments of old sheeting that were buried in the yard decades ago and surface whenever someone digs.

Outdoor material gets handled carelessly for understandable reasons: it is in the open air, it has been there forever, and a fence sheet looks like a fence sheet. But outdoor asbestos is also the most weathered asbestos on the property, which means the cement matrix has been degrading in the sun and rain for decades. And broken fence sheets shed material at ground level where children and pets are.

Two specific situations come up constantly. The first is the shared fence, where the material belongs to two households at once and any decision about it is a conversation with a neighbour before it is a job. The second is asbestos in soil, usually fragments from a demolition or renovation that predates everyone involved, which is a different problem to a sheet on a wall because it cannot be sealed, painted or left tidily alone.

Storm damage deserves its own mention. A fence or shed roof that has been broken by wind or hail is no longer intact bonded material. And the correct response is to keep people away from it and get advice. Not to start picking up pieces.

Outside guides

Outside Asbestos fences, sheds and garage roofs

Weathered back-yard sheeting, the shared-fence problem, what storm damage changes, and why a broken fence panel is not a tidy-up job.

Outside Asbestos in soil: why a buried fragment is not a fence-panel problem

Asbestos-contaminated soil cannot be sealed and left alone the way an intact sheet can. How it gets there, what contaminated soil means, and what happens once you report it.

Outside Asbestos pipe lagging: the wrap a routine repair can disturb

Pipe lagging is a soft wrap or paste around old plumbing, not a rigid board, and that difference changes how carefully it needs to be treated.

Outside Asbestos guttering and downpipes: the chore that touches them most

Gutters and downpipes are handled more often than any roof sheet, and that routine contact is what makes them worth a second look.

Pipes Asbestos pipes: where cement pipe turns up and what to leave alone

Water, drainage and flue pipes in older homes can be asbestos cement. Where they hide and why you should not cut or dig them out.

Water Asbestos in drinking water: what the guidelines say about pipes and taps

The guidelines set no value for it. What matters at home is the old cement pipe, and why you should never cut one open.

Tanks Asbestos cement water tanks: the old roof space tank and what to leave alone

Some pre-1990 header tanks in the ceiling are asbestos cement. Why an unused one can stay put and what never to do to it.

Sources

What this page explains is based on these official sources. If you check one and it does not match what you read here, send it to us and the article gets corrected.

NSW Government. Asbestos in NSW. The NSW Government asbestos portal
WorkSafe Victoria. Asbestos. Duties, licensing and safe removal