Asbestos
is a brittle and fragile material. It cannot be walked
on as the tiles will crack and these hairline cracks, which
are hard to see, will leak. Asbestos tiles can be cut with
a Slate Cutter, which,
in fact, was originally manufactured to cut asbestos tiles.
This tool will also punch holes in asbestos tiles - no
small feat as they tend to crack otherwise. You can also
put holes in asbestos tiles by using a small masonry drill
bit (3/16" for example). You can work on asbestos
roofs by using hook ladders. The Fulton
ladder hook is inexpensive and works pretty well on
asbestos roofs. Slate hooks work well for fastening replacement tiles
in place. On diamond shaped tiles use two hooks, one at
4 o clock and one at 8 o clock (see below). When you use
slate hooks you don't have to drill the tiles or caulk
anything. You can also use copper
nails to nail the asbestos tiles back in place after
taking the roof apart (such as when you replace flashings).
The last (top) row of tiles, however, will probably have
to be installed with slate hooks.
