I've found some pieces of asbestos bonded sheeting in our PPOR garden (old house), and from looking at historical photos suspect it is from an old shed that was broken up and buried in that part of the garden. I've also found some other pieces in a separate garden location when digging a hole for a tree (was wearing P2 mask). Anybody had to deal with this type of thing before? I've contacted a specialised contractor and they will come out and remove the affected soil areas. However, as the house is old I'm thinking it might be an idea to remove some of the topsoil across the whole block (say 200mm), replace with fresh soil and returf - just to be safe and in case there is any other areas given the property's age of 100 years old. Any advice? Only problem is the garden is 700m2 in size.
Probably look at sparrow picking the visible pieces only as it is bonded sheet. The alternative is to strip 1m of soil which will be more than your block is worth.
If the asbestos pieces are buried in the soil it will be fine, it's not poisonous. Asbestos is only harmful if it's dust particles are airborne and you breathe the little needles into your lungs. I'd leave it. If you're digging up the yard, just put the sprinkler on to wet everything down.
I find old bits of fibro up the back of my yard all the time - my chooks unearth them. I never give them a second thought. If there is an old shed buried in a part of the garden and you want to get rid of that to do something with that ground, that makes sense. Going beyond that would be overkill.
Yes, I was thinking of having a contractor remove the soil where I suspect the shed is. We are then considering laying a new lawn, so I could either have them also rake or remove 200mm of soil across the whole area or add 200mm of fresh soil under the lawn to act as a barrier.
Most houses will have some asbestos sheeting broken up from off cuts of the eaves lining etc. I used to worry about it - and even had some earth tested (negative). Now, I I just spray the bits of asbestos gently with water, put it in two zip lock bags and then in a very large sealed bucket. When the bucket is full I will take it to the asbestos disposal place.
However, don't put any asbestos pieces you find in the rubbish. They should be bagged and disposed of at a proper asbestos disposal place.
Its really common to find broken pieces in your yard on these old places . I would put gloves on and mask and wet it down and put it in a bag and tape it up for protection.
Also, it can look like there are no pieces of fibro. when the earth is freshly dug - as wet asbestos looks quite dark and blends in. Then, as the top layer of earth dries, the asbestos pieces change colour and appear grey.
