User:Buildings What/sandbox

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Hello Asbestos cement enthusiasts,

I am considering adding five new citations to the page Asbestos cement.

This source will expand the article's depth of the material itself- its water absorption, density and porosity, stability, and strength.

This source will be useful to expand how asbestos cement is made, and why asbestos makes for a durable fibre.

This source is more case-specific about how asbestos cement holds up against fire. This could be an important example of asbestos cement in conditions other than rain and runoff, as is mentioned currently in the article.

This source lays out the common places asbestos cement is found. This is briefly mentioned on the current article page, but with no citations.

The article briefly mentions the cleaning of asbestos cement and the potential health dangers of doing so. This article would be a great way to expand upon current health risks for those who already have asbestos cement in their homes or workplaces and are considering what to do next.

Please provide any feedback or additional new sources or ideas to expand this great page.

Buildings What (talk) 03:28, 9 November 2017 (UTC)



The name fibro is short for "fibrous (or fibre) cement sheet", more commonly called "asbestos cement sheet" or "AC sheet". It is a building material in which asbestos fibres are used to reinforce thin rigid cement sheets. Asbestos-cement is a modern product, utilized mainly in industrial work due to the plain surface and lack of stylistic elements on each sheet. The material rose to necessity during World War II to make sturdy, inexpensive military housing, and continued to be used as an affordable substitute for many roofing products following the war. Advertised as a fireproof alternative to other roofing materials such as asphalt, asbestos-cement roofs were popular not only for safety but also for affordability. Due to asbestos-cement’s imitation of more expensive materials such as wood siding and shingles, brick, slate, and stone, the product was marketed as an affordable renovation material. Asbestos-cement faced competition with the aluminum alloy, available in large quantities after WWII, and the reemergence of wood clapboard and vinyl siding in the mid to late twentieth century.

Asbestos-cement is usually formed into flat or corrugated sheets or piping, but can be molded into any shape wet cement can fit. In Europe, many forms were historically used for cement sheets, while the US leaned more conservative in material shapes due to labor and production costs. Although fibro was used in a number of countries, it was in Australia where its use was the most widespread. Predominantly manufactured and sold by James Hardie & Co. until the mid-1980s, fibro in all its forms was a very popular building material, largely due to its durability. The reinforcing fibres involved in construction were almost always asbestos.

The use of fibro that contains asbestos has been banned in several countries, including Australia. As recently as 2016, the material has been discovered in new components sold for construction projects.

Health Effects
When exposed to weather and erosion elements, such as in roofs, the surface corrosion of asbestos cement can be a source of airborne toxic fibers. Asbestos is directly related to a number of life-threatening diseases including, asbestosis, pleural mesothelioma (lung) and peritoneal mesothelioma (abdomen). Fibre cement sheet is still readily available, but the reinforcing fibres are now cellulose rather than asbestos. However the name "fibro" is still applied to it for traditional reasons.

Buildings What (talk) 01:13, 21 November 2017 (UTC)