Bituminous membrane sarking (asbestos roofing felt)
Description
Usually applied to flat roofing.
A waterproofing membrane made up of a thin, rough textured black material containing asbestos and bitumen or a coating of bitumen over an asbestos paper. Installed as a layer of water-tight material that is laid over a surface. Asbestos provided stability and rot-proofing.
May be an exposed top layer or installed as an underlayer beneath gravel or a roof deck.
Older industrial applications may consist of up to three layers of asbestos felt interleaved with asphalt, sometimes with a lower layer of compressed fibre board.
Years of production/use
1900s-1980s
Brands/products
- Ruberoid
- Rexlite
- Ormonoid
- Johns Manville (USA)
- Rubanit
- Permanoid
- Rok (UK)
- Malthoid (Pabco)
- Maltha
- Bituminoid
- Fibrolite
- Genasco
- Sealkote
- Asbestocore
- Nu-Roof
Residential uses
Blocks of flats/apartments
Industrial uses
Larger commercial roofs, Government buildings, public buildings, factories, foundries, electrical sub-stations etc
Be aware
Modern equivalent products with no asbestos are widely marketed. Identical product with asbestos may be made in countries that allow asbestos use.
