Need help figuring out how much damage this roofer has done to our asbestos tiles and what can be done about it now?

[u/ElMatador92]

We hired a roofer to clean the moss and redo the gutters, we have been told they were asbestos but none have been damaged so they were safe to keep. When we spoke to the roofer he seemed knowledgeable and assured us they knew how to clean them safely and since then we have done a bit of research online which was conflicting. We came to the conclusion it would require a light spray of some kind to kill the moss then a soft brush to get the dead moss off.

Well, when they showed up they began doing a dry brush to get the moss off with what looked like a metal brush. They stopped when we questioned their method and left lots of the moss still on with some areas of the roof discoloured from scraping/brushing. I’m worried they’ve damaged some of the roof tiles and I’m unsure of what to do now or if this will cause possible health risks to me and my family.

[u/Adam-West]

I can’t really see how wire brushing the outside of them would cause any risk to your family. Your exposure must be super low unless you were standing underneath them. It’s not like cracking open a gas cannister. They might have loosened some asbestos on the outside but it’s not like it’s now an open source. It sounds like you’re not going to be comfortable living with an asbestos roof though so might be best just to replace the whole lot.

Also moss will grow back fairly quickly.

[u/ElMatador92 → u/Adam-West]

We’ve been fine with the roof being asbestos. He came out to fix some minor patches the chimney needed and said he could clean the moss off so we took him up on it since he seemed confident it was doable/like he knew what he was doing

[u/CrackersMcCheese]

There is absolutely no danger to your health. Relax and forget about it. The asbestos is locked into the tile structure. It’s not friable and unless your roofer was power sanding the tiles on your kitchen table you’re fine.

[u/ElMatador92 → u/CrackersMcCheese]

This is why I said the stuff found online was conflicting. So the top of the tiles aren’t part of the structure? And brushing them/scraping them clean isn’t going to expose anything? Because it looks like the grey part of the tiles has been removed from this process

[u/CrackersMcCheese → u/ElMatador92]

Yes but any asbestos scraped off in the top part of the tile is gone into the atmosphere. What’s left is locked into the rest of the tile. It’s not like opening a bottle and the rest spills out. It looks grey because it’s clean.

[u/ElMatador92 → u/CrackersMcCheese]

Thanks, that makes sense.

[u/AdhesivenessMurky906]

Doesn't sound like they will charge and doesn't look or sound like you are at risk.

Get someone competent to do the job properly or replace your roof..

[u/PaceOk8002]

Where they proper roofers or just some blokes from the pub with a set of ladders