Asbestos Roof Replacement in George and the Garden Route
An asbestos cement roof is not dangerous while it is intact and undisturbed — it becomes dangerous when it is broken, drilled, cut, pressure-washed or left to weather until the fibres are friable. Which is why the answer is never to patch it, coat it or clean it, and always to have it removed properly and replaced with a roof that will see out the building.
✓ Regulated Removal Process ✓ Licensed Disposal ✓ Full Re-Roof Under One Contract ✓ Free Site Assessment
What We Do
Identification, regulated removal and licensed disposal, then a new roof specified for coastal exposure — one contract, one programme.
Identification & Sampling
You cannot confirm asbestos by looking. A sample tested by an accredited laboratory establishes what you actually have before anything is disturbed.
Regulated Removal & Disposal
Controlled removal under a plan of work with statutory notification, sealed wrapping, licensed hazardous waste disposal and a disposal certificate for your records.
Structural Repair & New Roof
What is under a roof of that age is rarely pristine. Corroded purlins and rotten eaves timber identified before the strip, then a new roof specified for salt and wind.
How It Works
- Assessment and sampling. We look at the roof and the structure, and arrange laboratory identification so nobody is guessing.
- Plan of work and notification. Statutory notification to the Department of Employment and Labour, containment planned, and the site prepared before anything is touched.
- Removal and disposal. Sheets wetted, unbolted rather than broken, wrapped and sealed, then transported to permitted hazardous landfill with a certificate issued.
- Clearance and structural repair. Written clearance before the area is reoccupied, then purlins, timber and fixings put right with the roof open.
- New roof and handover. Coated steel specified for the exposure, closer fixing at edges and corners, then insulation, rainwater goods, certificates and the disposal certificate in your hands.
How to tell if you have an asbestos roof
Asbestos cement sheeting was standard on South African roofs for decades, and there is a great deal of it still in service — outbuildings, garages, farm sheds, older houses, factory roofs and school halls across the Garden Route.
The visual clues are a grey fibrous cement sheet, usually in a corrugated or a large-six profile, often with a chalky weathered surface, sometimes moss-covered, and typically fixed with hook bolts rather than modern screws. Age is a strong indicator: sheeting from the era before asbestos was phased out is a reasonable working assumption until it is tested.
You cannot confirm it by looking. Fibre-cement sheeting that contains no asbestos looks very similar, and the only way to know is a sample tested by an accredited laboratory. Taking that sample is itself work that should be done properly rather than by breaking off a corner with a hammer.
The single most important thing to know in the meantime: leave it alone. Do not drill it, cut it, walk on it, pressure-wash it or scrape moss off it. All of those release fibres, and an intact sheet that is left undisturbed is not releasing anything.
| Stage | Who does it | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Identification and sampling | Accredited laboratory | Confirms whether the sheeting actually contains asbestos |
| Notification and plan of work | Registered asbestos removal team | Statutory notification to the Department of Employment and Labour |
| Removal and containment | Registered asbestos removal team | Controlled removal, wetting, no breaking, sealed wrapping |
| Transport and disposal | Licensed hazardous waste handler | Permitted landfill only, with a disposal certificate |
| Clearance | Approved inspection authority | Written clearance before the area is reoccupied |
| New roof | TreadstoneCPM | Structure checked, new covering specified for coastal exposure |
Why coating or patching an asbestos roof is the wrong answer
There is a market in painting asbestos roofs, and it is worth being blunt about why we do not do it.
Coating encapsulates the surface, which does reduce fibre release in the short term. What it also does is commit you to maintaining that coating indefinitely, on a roof that is already at or past the end of its service life, and it makes the eventual removal more expensive and more complicated because the encapsulant has to be dealt with as well.
Worse, preparing a weathered asbestos roof for coating usually means cleaning it — and cleaning it usually means pressure-washing, which is one of the most effective ways to aerosolise asbestos fibres and spread contaminated slurry across the property. We have seen this done. The washing is more hazardous than the roof was.
Patching is the same problem in miniature. Cutting or drilling a sheet to fit a repair releases fibres at the point of work, and it extends the life of a roof that is going to have to come off anyway.
The honest arithmetic is that money spent maintaining an asbestos roof is money spent on a liability. Money spent removing it is money spent once.
What the removal process actually involves
Asbestos removal in South Africa is a regulated activity. The work is carried out by a contractor registered for asbestos removal, under a plan of work, with statutory notification to the Department of Employment and Labour before the work starts.
The method is essentially the opposite of demolition. Sheets are wetted to suppress fibres, unbolted rather than broken, lowered rather than dropped, and wrapped and sealed on the ground. The work area is controlled, the crew is in appropriate respiratory protection and disposable coveralls, and the surrounding ground is sheeted so that anything that does fall is captured.
Waste goes to a permitted hazardous landfill through a licensed handler, and you should receive a disposal certificate as evidence of where it went. That certificate matters later: it is what you show a buyer, a bank or an insurer.
Finally, an approved inspection authority issues written clearance before the area is put back into normal use.
How we run it. Asbestos roof replacement is a service we deliver end to end: identification and sampling, the notified and controlled removal, licensed disposal with a certificate, clearance, and the new roof. It is one contract, one programme and one point of contact for you, with every stage carried out to the requirements set out above. You are not left co-ordinating three parties and hoping the paperwork lines up at the end.
The new roof, and why it is the easy part
Once the old covering is off, what is underneath becomes visible for the first time in decades — and on a roof of that age it is rarely pristine. Hook-bolt purlins that have corroded around the fixing points, timber that has taken water at the eaves, and structure that was designed for a covering nobody uses any more.
We inspect and price that honestly rather than assuming it is sound. Where purlins need replacing or spacing needs to change for the new profile, that is identified before the strip rather than discovered during it.
For the new covering, an asbestos strip is a good opportunity to fix the specification as well as the roof. Coated steel sheeting is substantially lighter than asbestos cement, so the structure is usually working easier rather than harder. On a coastal site we specify a pre-painted sheet over a zinc-aluminium metallic coating at an adequate coating mass, with fixing centres tightened at the edges and corners where wind uplift concentrates.
It is also the moment to deal with insulation, ventilation and the rainwater goods, all of which are considerably cheaper to do with the roof open than afterwards.
The whole sequence — assessment, removal, structural repair, re-roof, handover — runs under one programme with one point of contact.
Common Questions
Is an asbestos roof dangerous?
Not while it is intact and undisturbed. Asbestos cement sheeting only presents a risk when fibres are released, which happens when it is broken, drilled, cut, sanded, pressure-washed, or when it has weathered to the point of being friable. That is why the standing advice on an asbestos roof you are not yet removing is simply to leave it alone — do not walk on it, clean it, or attach anything to it.
Can you paint or seal an asbestos roof?
It is done, and we do not recommend it. Coating commits you to maintaining that coating indefinitely on a roof already at the end of its life, and it makes eventual removal more expensive because the encapsulant becomes part of the problem. The bigger issue is the preparation: cleaning a weathered asbestos roof usually means pressure-washing, which is one of the most effective ways to release fibres and spread contaminated slurry across the property. Money spent maintaining an asbestos roof is spent on a liability.
Who is allowed to remove an asbestos roof in South Africa?
A contractor registered for asbestos removal, working under a plan of work with statutory notification to the Department of Employment and Labour. Waste must go to a permitted hazardous landfill through a licensed handler, and an approved inspection authority issues written clearance afterwards. It is not work a general roofer, a handyman or a homeowner may lawfully do — and the paperwork it generates is exactly what you will need at resale.
How do I know if my roof contains asbestos?
You cannot tell reliably by looking, because non-asbestos fibre cement sheeting looks very similar. Age and profile are indicators — grey fibrous cement sheeting in a corrugated or large-six profile, fixed with hook bolts, from before the phase-out — but confirmation requires a sample tested by an accredited laboratory. Taking that sample is itself work that should be done properly rather than by knocking a corner off.
What does asbestos roof replacement cost?
It is genuinely site-specific, because the removal cost depends on area, access, sheet condition and disposal distance, and the re-roof cost depends on what is found underneath once the covering is off. What we can do is assess the roof, get the removal priced by the registered contractor, price the structural repairs and the new roof, and give you one line-item scope with what is included and what is provisional. A figure quoted before any of that has happened is not a price.
Can you re-roof over asbestos instead of removing it?
We would not. Fixing a new roof over asbestos sheeting means drilling and fixing through or near it, which is precisely the activity that releases fibres, and it leaves the asbestos in the building as a permanent undisclosed liability. It also has to be declared at resale. Removing it once, properly, with a disposal certificate, is the only outcome that actually ends the problem.
What paperwork should I get afterwards?
The laboratory identification result, the plan of work and notification reference, the hazardous waste disposal certificate showing where the material went, and the written clearance from the approved inspection authority. Then the normal roofing handover documents for the new roof. Keep all of it — a buyer’s attorney, a bank or an insurer will ask about asbestos on a property of that age, and the disposal certificate is the answer.
We Serve George and the Surrounding Towns
Based in George, replacing asbestos roofs on houses, outbuildings, farm structures and light industrial buildings across the Garden Route.
George · Wilderness · Mossel Bay · Great Brak River · Glentana · Herolds Bay · Sedgefield · Knysna · Plettenberg Bay · Hartenbos · Oudtshoorn · Riversdale
Have an asbestos roof to deal with?
We will assess it, arrange the identification, coordinate the licensed removal and price the new roof — one programme, one point of contact, and the disposal certificate in your hands at the end.
Or call us directly on 073 160 7619 — Mon–Fri 7am–5pm
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