I have a garage built quite a long time ago. The inside and the ceiling are covered with blue-gray, approximately 3mm thick, hard boards which I guess are eternit and therefore asbestos.
Now I was planning to insulate the garage and was thinking about insulating from the inside since the panel is very nice.
How should I proceed? Should I keep the eternit and build on with new studs and insulation or should I tear everything down?
Now I was planning to insulate the garage and was thinking about insulating from the inside since the panel is very nice.
How should I proceed? Should I keep the eternit and build on with new studs and insulation or should I tear everything down?
Eternit is not dangerous where it sits; the danger arises when it starts to dust, i.e., when it's torn down. If you can frame and insulate without cracking each panel or have to tamper with them in any other way, I would let it stay. Moreover, the danger with asbestos lies in inhaling the dust every day, especially when combined with smoking. Tearing down eternit once or twice in a lifetime and using respiratory protection, I would argue that it does not pose any risk.
Nailing into Eternit doesn't work as it will undoubtedly crack. However, it's fine to drill and then screw. It creates some dust when drilling, so a breathing mask and/or extractor is recommended. Sawing is possible, but it creates a lot of dust, so avoid sawing if you can! I once had to cut a corrugated Eternit roof tile. When the wind was fresh and coming from the right direction, we took the opportunity to use a circular saw. This was to ensure the cut was swift. A large, gray asbestos cement cloud drifted away, and the blade was practically unusable after a 1000 mm saw cut.
If you can avoid handling the Eternit too much, I would also leave it in place.
If you need to dispose of Eternit, it seems that the rules and costs vary a lot between different places in the country. I recall this being discussed in a thread here on the forum. At my local dump in Höganäs, it was free to dispose of the Eternit, but only if you threw away a maximum of half a cubic meter at a time. It took a few trips...
If you can avoid handling the Eternit too much, I would also leave it in place.
If you need to dispose of Eternit, it seems that the rules and costs vary a lot between different places in the country. I recall this being discussed in a thread here on the forum. At my local dump in Höganäs, it was free to dispose of the Eternit, but only if you threw away a maximum of half a cubic meter at a time. It took a few trips...
Maybe not common, but I have seen it in at least two different garages. (from the 1930-40s) I don't know if in these cases it might possibly be intended as some form of fireproofing?
Here, it's free to dispose of things, but as I said, my little renovation became much bigger... 
Maybe one should tear down the ceiling along the wall and then attach the studs to the floor and ceiling, and then just here and there in the walls. That way, you don't have to tear down as much, you don't have to drill as much, and the walls are pretty decent anyway.
Maybe one should tear down the ceiling along the wall and then attach the studs to the floor and ceiling, and then just here and there in the walls. That way, you don't have to tear down as much, you don't have to drill as much, and the walls are pretty decent anyway.