The call usually starts the same way. A crew showed up to replace siding or re-side a gable, pulled back a corner, looked at the hard gray or tan shingles underneath, and said, "We are not touching that until it is tested." Now the job is on hold, the homeowner is looking at a wall that looks like stone, and nobody has said what happens next. This page is for that moment.
Many houses built in the middle of the last century were covered in rigid shingles or flat panels made of cement mixed with mineral fibers. Some of those fibers were asbestos. The material is stiff, a little brittle, often set in neat overlapping rows, and it tends to crack cleanly instead of bending. Painters and siding crews know it on sight, and a careful one will stop, because cutting, sanding or breaking it is how fibers get loose.
A crew that stops is not being dramatic. It is protecting you, its own workers, and the schedule, because a job that starts before the answer is known can end up stopped halfway with debris on the ground.
Plenty of old shingles from that era are plain cement with no asbestos at all, and some newer fiber cement products look nearly identical. You cannot tell by eye, and neither can the crew. The only way to settle it is a sample read by a laboratory. That is the whole reason the test exists: it turns "maybe" into a yes or a no so the work can plan around a fact.
We take a small piece from a spot that will be hidden or replaced anyway, such as the back of a corner or a low edge near the foundation. We wet the area first, take the piece with a hand tool instead of a saw, bag it, seal the spot, and send it to the lab. Your wall is not opened up, and you are not asked to leave the house. If there are several layers, such as old shingles under a newer coat of siding, we sample what is actually under the layer the crew was about to remove. See our residential asbestos testing page for how a visit works.
If it comes back negative, you hand the report to the crew and the job goes on. Keep the paper with your house records.
If it comes back positive, you have choices, and removal is not the only one. Siding that is intact and left alone is often not the hazard. The risk comes from breaking it. Some owners choose to cover over sound shingles, some choose to have them taken off by a licensed abatement firm, and some change the scope of the project so the wall is never disturbed. Which of those fits depends on the condition of the shingles and what the crew needs to do, and we will talk it through before you spend money.
Tell the crew you are testing and ask them to hold the date. Most are glad to, and many will come back as soon as the result is in hand. If the shingles are part of a larger project, such as a roof, new windows and siding together, it helps to look at the whole house at once with a pre-renovation inspection, so one visit covers every material they plan to touch. You can also read what testing generally runs in our cost guide.
Call (423) 414-2862, tell us what the crew found and where on the house, and we will tell you what we would sample and how soon we can get a result back to you. The goal is simple: a clear answer in writing, so your siding project can start again or change direction with its eyes open.
Free quotes over the phone in minutes. Lab results in 2–3 business days.
Call (423) 414-2862