Asbestos cement composite, aka Transite or other brand names. Possible someone looked at it and declared it was probably asbestos based on its age. But it isn't always. The asbestos was used as a strengthening fiber, just like fiberglas is used today in fiber cement board. I would definitely have any material tested before assuming it's asbestos, unless it's says it right on it. BTW, it's not just OSHA; asbestos abatement is covered by the Clean Air Act. Fortunately asbestos cement roofing is not the worst to deal with, because 1) it's outside so no requirements for post-abatement air sampling, and 2) it's a 'non-friable' material unless it's terribly weathered or is cut/pulverized/etc. As abatement projects go, nothing is cheap, but you could do worse. :-]

I had originally posted a response back in March, but I now see it only went to the person sending the email, not the group. So, here it is: Wow, hard to believe that my post from over two years ago is re-circulated! And sorry to hear that someone else is going through what we did:( I agree with previous reponse that you do not need to replace it. Asbestos is a scary word, but the form it takes in a roof is not dangerous, as even if it does shread off, the particles are too large to be inhaled, like dust. We were told that the roof was leaking (although we saw no evidence of it yet) so we had to replace. Yup, EPA was notified (scarier sounding than it actually was...roofing co. did all of it) and specail dumpsters were ordered (more money than regualr ones). Since it was wood shake underneath, that had to be removed (sooooo messy) and then plywood had to be installed. Whole thing cost $25,000 which we will never be able to recoop in the sale of the house. I don't think it effected the price of our house by that much, but I'm sure that a slate roof was factored into the over-all desirability of the house. For us, it was more a matter of being told it was slate, confirmend by our inspector and being told it was in great condition. We never, ever, ever would have paid what we did if we knew it was 1) Asbestos and 2) needed to be completely replaced tothe tune of $25,000. We (as you) did everything right and our "professionals" lead us astray. There will probably be no recourse with the real estate co. as they just put down what they are told. your only other options are to find out that the previous owners KNEW it was not slate (old records? Call roofing Companies? Check permits to see when they had roof repair done??) and possibly the inspector. That can be tricky as inspectors may not be insured and often they have a clause stating that they do not inspect roofs. Mine however, wrote out 2 pages about our slate roof and how to care for it. And he was less than 6 inches away from it when he said what great condition it was in. Grrr! That being said, I don't know how much it will effect the listing value of your home. Sure, slate roofs are $100,000 to put on, but you can never assume that your house would be listed for that much more. Call a realtor and talk about it. Good luck!

city assessments are often incorrect. There could be more roofing under the tin roof. This happens a lot of the time. In fact, we just installed a new steel roof and it was placed over the older asphalt roof. -rj

Gotta think it is squirrels...bloody buggers.... The original cement-asbestos roof on my garage (1938) occasionally sheds patches of moss. Thought that I could make use of 'em by placing the patches on planting mix in flats and getting it to grow together into sheets. Keeping things shady and moist, it was going pretty well - 'til the squirrels discovered them. They dug through the flats like a horde of greedy prospectors looking for gold....