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Asbestos cement imitation wall tile sheets

Description

Moulded AC sheeting for interiors as a cheaper alternative to ceramic tiles. 

Marketed as having a waterproof backing.

Supplied in natural AC colour and designed for painting, enamelling or lacquering by installer.

James Hardie produced Velotile in 3 colours that required no painting, and plain for painting.

Usually installed with metal angles and jointing strips. Manufacturer recommended AC cover strips for joints.

Does not appear to have gained a foothold in the market like Tilux-type smooth sheeting.

Brands/products
  • Duratile
  • Velotile
Years of production/use

1930-40s

Residential uses

Bathrooms, kitchens, toilets

Industrial uses

Communal changerooms, toilets

Be aware

Long term water ingress may soften ACM, leading to damage and exposed fibres.

Likelihood of installation in buildings up to mid-20th Century.

Laminated asbestos cement sheeting for interior wet areas

Description

AC sheet with plastic or enamel coating to provide smooth surface over patterned appearance in choice of colours. Patterns depicted included ‘marble’, ‘spatter’, ‘woven’ and flowers. Images below depict some manufacturer pattern/colour ranges.

Tilux branded laminated skirting and moulded cover strips were also marketed around 1940s in patterned colours, to match sheeting.

Manufacturers advertised that only basic cleaning applications were necessary. Some made it known that wax cleaners will deteriorate the patterned surface.

Some patterns faded over time through wear and tear which may hinder visual recognition.

Brands/products
  • Tilux
  • De Luxe Fibrock
  • Duradec
  • Artyle
  • Durachrome
Years of production/use

1929 to early 1980s

Residential uses
  • Home bathrooms, toilets, older kitchens and laundries
Industrial uses
  • Early marketing was also for restaurants, hospitals, surgeries and shop fronts.
  • Office bathrooms and change rooms
Be aware

Exposed fibres at damaged sheet edges that have come away from aluminium or PVC jointing strips/angles, or around tapware.

Colours and patterns sold to Australian market

James Hardie 1929 – 1983 – following colour/pattern ranges varied from time to time

Tilux (1929 – 1940s)

Tilux (1950s) (matching skirting/cover strips supplied)

New Tilux (1959 – 1970s)

Tilux Weave (1963 – 1970s)

Tilux (Late 1960s – 1980s)

Tilux vanity (1960s)

Wunderlich Ltd 1929-late 1970s

Durachrome (1930s)

Duradec (1957 – 1960s)

Colours: Pink, Grey, Green, Buff, Blue, Black

Images required

New Duradec (1965 – unknown)

New Duradec (1968 – late 1970s)

Note: actual colours may vary to catalogue images above. Note difference between 1968/1970 catalogues

Asbestos Products Ltd – up to 1944

Artyle – Manufactured as wallboard sheets and marketed as having a two-tone glazed and rimpled surface with an asbestos base.

Armac – No image held – imitation timber surface – refer Timber faced asbestos cement sheeting.

CSR

De Luxe Fibrock 1950s-1960s

Colour names: Dalmation, Autumn, Pink, Blue, Green, Cream

Note similarity to above pattern of Artyle previous production patterns

Durasteel – Steel faced asbestos cement sandwich panel

Description

Perforated steel sheets on both faces with an AC sheet inner core. May be referenced as Durasteel laminate.

Imported product from Durasteel Ltd (UK), produced since 1934. The use of AC is said to have ceased in 1978 and replaced with a fibre cement sheet.

In 1980 the manufacturer was taken over and renamed Cape Durasteel Limited. Product sold under this name is non-ACM.

Uses include fire door outer panelling, as fire break panels above doorway architraves, as protective structural layer around high voltage electrical units.

May also have been used to achieve dual fire and security rating, due to steel reinforcing.

May be painted.

Brands/products
  • Durasteel Ltd
Years of production/use

Early 1930s to 1978

Residential uses
  • Personal secure areas, panic rooms.
Industrial uses
  • Doors and other panelling for secure storage (walk-in safes), plant rooms and other fire-prone areas.
  • Military secure locations.
  • Electricity surface distribution substation equipment. 
Be aware

Painted panels may not allow visual identification of the inner AC core.

Modular homes with asbestos cement sheeting

Description

Modular (kit) homes marketed from mid 1970s-1980s by franchises throughout Australia and South Pacific. Generally known in Australia as Logan Homes. Panelling manufactured by Hardie’s.

An early version of prefabricated expanded polystyrene sandwich (EPS) panelling was a key element of the modular system (refer image 8), used for walls and ceilings.

Ceiling panels were solid sandwich panels of AC sheeting with a polystyrene core. Wall panels were AC sheeting attached to metal frames requiring polystyrene batts to be inserted.

Later designs from the mid-1980s saw the AC sheeting layers replaced with non-ACM fibre cement sheeting.

Marketed as a quick and cheaper housing alternative, which was cyclone proof, able to be constructed by a ‘handyman’ in weeks. Attractive to buyers in cyclone-subjected locations.

Diagram at image 8 is from published James Cook Cyclone Structural Testing Station report:
Testing a Logan Unit House Designed for 63m/s Winds – 1984. 

Both AC sheeting and fibre cement sheeting are referenced in this report as located in the structure tested.

Brands/products
  • Logan Modular Homes
  • Logan Unit Homes
  • Pacific Modular
  • Marlin Modular
Years of production/use

1970s to early 1980s (ACM risk).

Advertising in March 1984 stated that about 14 Logan Homes were being built every day. Around half at this time, were in Queensland.

Residential uses

Housing

Industrial uses

Community buildings, mine site accommodation and field offices

Be aware

Some cases of mixed panelling (AC and non-ACM) supplied within kits appears to have occurred in mid-1980s. Multiple sampling may be required during asbestos surveys.

Asbestos cement sandwich panels

Description

Sandwich panel developed and marketed in mid-20th Century by Wunderlich Ltd as Insulabestos, an inner core of insulating material surfaced with a Durabestos AC sheet on both faces.

The insulating material has not been identified but may be Masonite mixed with other materials. Wunderlich advertising only details the core as insulating fibre.

Marketed for ceilings, walls, doors and partitions in dwellings, shops, factories and offices as a sound retardant.

Hardies produced and advertised a sandwich panel system from the late 1960s consisting of two AC sheet products at the time as the outside panels – Hardiflex and Versilux, with an unnamed insulating core. Interestingly, these both became cellulose based fibre cement boards when Hardies ceased using asbestos in the 1980s.

Other sandwich panel systems with AC sheeting were used in modular (kit) homes in late 1970s-early 1980s, incorporating a core of polystyrene. These panels may have been independently used in other structures.

See Modular homes.

Brands/products
  • Insulabestos
  • Incorporating Hardiflex and Versilux
Years of production/use
  • Insulabestos: 1930s – 1950s
  • Other systems: Late 1960s – early 1980s
Residential uses
  • Ceiling and walling, exterior and interior
  • Kit homes
Industrial uses
  • Ceiling and walling, possibly used as fire rating ceiling above suspended tile systems
  • Government buildings and infrastructure
Be aware

View from interior side will not identify as sandwich panel – may require check of panel depth

Low density board (LDB)

Description

Also known as asbestos insulating board (AIB). Sheeting of similar visual surface appearance to asbestos cement sheeting. Used for walls and ceilings between 1950s-70s. Solid or perforated. Produced in 4.5mm, 6.5mm, 9mm and 12mm thicknesses. Unpainted, it tends to have a slightly blue-grey appearance as opposed to a more whitish grey appearance of regular AC sheeting. 

Marketed as non-combustible light weight interior lining for insulation under hot water tanks, heaters, ironing boards, behind stoves and cupboard linings.

Often made from amosite asbestos mixed with chrysotile asbestos and calcium silicate plaster as the binder. Lighter material, more advantageous to logistics and installation. Amosite was thought to have better fire resistance qualities.

Rear side of LDB is usually dimpled. Edging often bevelled so sheet joints will appear to have V-shaped valley when butted together. Squared edges (stone cut) also produced.

It is a structurally softer material and easily dented from a slight impression with a tool.

Used in ceiling tiles, solid and perforated for acoustic qualities. Advantageous for noisy high human traffic areas such as schools. See ceiling tiles information page.

Hardie’s Asbestolux was advertised as ‘…protection from fire, sound, heat, cold and condensation.’

CSR/Wunderlich Bevelux was advertised as: ‘…will not shatter when exposed to intense heat.’

Often favoured in climates with high humidity (northern Australia), as its structure was more moisture resistant. 

Brands/products
  • Asbestolux
  • Duralux (Wunderlich Qld)

    • Duralux is also a current brand name for a fibre board product manufactured in Australia with no asbestos

  • Bevelux
  • F.R. Board

Since May 2021, LDB is classified as friable in all circumstances under Queensland law.

Years of production/use

1950s – 1970s

Residential uses
  • Interior walling and ceiling of houses and apartments. Also perforated sheets used in workshops as tool peg boards.
  • Soffit panels under eaves.
  • Generally ceilings in multi-storey buildings.
  • Floor insulation beneath hot tanks, heaters. Under floor insulation above lower floor garages. Lining of cupboards and behind stoves.
Industrial uses
  • Factories, workshops, shops (particularly as ceilings in flat-roofed rows of), community and government buildings (including military), schools, food processing plants, laundries, textile plants, kitchens, laboratories, bakeries, hospitals, interior of aircraft hangars, offices etc.
  • Underside of mezzanine offices or outer facing walls between factory and office spaces
  • Used as ‘fillets’ for fire rated structures – see: AC tween panels (Fillets) for fire rated ceilings information page.
  • Draught fire curtains, industrial ovens/driers, high temp trunking and ducting, heat shields, linings for foundry pallets, moulding boxes and electrical circuit boxes.
Be aware

LDB is easily damaged. Tears like cardboard. Estimated asbestos content is up to 70%.

Safe Work Australia Guide: How to identify and handle low density asbestos fibre board 

Once painted, LDB sheeting with bevelled edges may have a Masonite-type appearance.

Often used as an insulation material in preference to Millboard, particularly in humid zones.

Asbestos cement flat sheeting – interior

Description

Surface appearance generally like plasterboard.
Sheet jointing may be covered with obtrusive AC cover moulding, wooden battens, or ‘Anaglypta’ paper strips, before painting. Shear point nails used for fixing in place – flat heads may be visible.

Villaboard was a water resistant AC sheeting for interior linings behind material such as wall tiles, behind/on top of cupboards and as a wallboard above decorative lining height within bathrooms. Produced with recessed and square edges. Non-ACM product with same name available today.

Duracast (1930s) had a rough cast appearance.

Flat AC sheeting used ad-hoc for providing vertical heat protection behind stoves and heating appliances, as well as shelving.

Years of production/use

Prior to 1990

Brands/products
  • Fibrolite
  • Fibrock
  • Tasbestos
  • Hardiflex
  • Villaboard
  • Durabestos
  • Asbestolite
  • Wunderflex
  • Versilux
  • Flexboard
  • Endurite
  • Duracast
Residential uses
  • Houses and other buildings on site.
Industrial uses
  • Foundries, factories, warehouses, substations, workshops, hospitals, community and government buildings.
  • Communal washrooms and changerooms
Be aware

Consider the age of the building. Unless assessed by a professional, 9mm and 12mm thick panels can be mistaken for plasterboard, particularly if painted or wallpapered.

When cutting, drilling or demolishing:

  • Cut edges may expose fibres.
  • Original AC sheeting may be left in place for additional insulation, with non-ACM panels or tiles attached over the top.
  • May have been intentionally used as an underlining sheet for ceramic tiling.
  • May have been used as an underlay for flooring such as tiles, linoleum or asbestos containing vinyl flooring.

Asbestos cement walls with non-asbestos rendered covering

Description

AC exterior wall panels rendered after construction to alter appearance and/or encapsulate ACM.

May have occurred at time of construction or in later years.

May have been applied by hand (trowel) or a sprayed on texture coating. Some portable accommodation hire companies had their transportable buildings covered with a non-ACM spray coating en masse during the 1970s.

Requires bulk core sampling to test or observance of damage around edging to identify AC sheeting/visible fibrous material underneath. 

This is not a reference to Hardie’s Stucco moulded AC panelling – refer AC siding sheets information page.

James Hardie instructions circa 1920s-30s provided guidance on the application of a ‘roughcast’ coating over newly installed Fibrolite exterior sheeting:

1.       Erect sheets with reverse side exposed.

2.       Cover all joints, both horizontal and/or perpendicular, with a narrow strip of ½ in. mesh wire netting.

3.       Thoroughly saturate the sheets after erection with water.

4.       Paint the exposed surface of the sheets with one good coat of neat cement and water.

5.       After thoroughly mixing the roughcast, composed of two parts of cement, one part of clean sand, and four parts of coke breeze (by measure), apply in the usual way.

Brands/products
  • n/a
Years of production/use

Any time after construction

Residential uses
  • External walls
Industrial uses
  • External walls
  • Transportable offices and accommodation
Be aware

Visual identifiers may require closer examination of edging and other structural ACM (gables/battens, windows, architraves).

Older portable buildings manufactured in late 1960s-1970s with an apparent spray on coating may contain ACM.

Galbestos – asbestos coated steel

Description

Imported product.

Galbestos was a steel core panel coated in asbestos bituminous felt and colour coated. 

Various corrugated panel styles were available.

Mainly used in industrial/commercial applications for roofing, curtain walling and fencing.

Brands/products
  • H.H.Robertson (USA)
  • Galbestos
Years of production/use

1948 – late 1970s

Residential uses

Fencing

Industrial uses

External walls and roofs on factories, warehouses and attached offices. Plant buildings such as power stations.

Be aware

Galbestos ACM coating can be affected by decades of weathering whereby the sealing coat cracks and shrinks, exposing asbestos fibres. Damage can also occur when the steel underneath degrades through rust.

Imitation brick asbestos cement cladding

Description

Asbestos cement sheeting with moulded brick pattern on outside.  Also known as faux bricks.

Produced in varying colours and brick styles. Smooth and textured. Some rough textured bricks will have repeated texture patterns.

The moulded ‘brick’ material may or may not contain asbestos, but was usually attached to AC sheet backing.

May have been used to clad existing AC sheeting for change of façade.  Often by attaching wooden battens over existing and then fake brick sheet nailed to battens.

Refer below for identification hints.

Brands/products

Not yet identified

Years of production/use

Prior to 1990

Residential uses
  • External walls
  • Internal feature walls
Industrial uses
  • External walls
  • Internal feature walls
Be aware

Grout or adhesive may become degraded over time allowing sections to become detached and damage to occur with debris in same location.

Asbestos containing adhesive may have been used for attaching to structure.

Identification hints
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Email: enquiries@asbestossafety.gov.au

Phone: 1300 326 148

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