Asbestos siding disposal

ronjhall · Dec 9, 2003

Rick
I didn’t think I would have anything to add to this thread. But as I left my place today I drove by a home on a new golf course less than 2 miles from my home. There was a crew dressed in white protective suits and wearing respirators, taking the asbestos siding off an old home on the property. The ground was covered with plastic about 10 feet out from the building. They had a special container to put the removed siding into. It has been raining all day. (I guess to keep the dust down) The county parks own the property.

Now I’m real concerned about this because with all these precaution and me living down wind I may be in danger of getting some kind of disease from the removal of the siding. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

It sure seems like a lot of concern over the removal some siding that has been on a house for 40 or more years.

I wonder if the TV program This Old House with Bob Vila has caused all this concern. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

I don’t have an opinion on the proper way you should dispose of the siding. But I would find someone that likes to work in the dark of the night and get rid of it. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

Junkman · Dec 9, 2003

Tractornut......... I can't even fathom what a 2 gallon can of mercury would look like, because when I was in the scrap metal business with my dad, we dealt in mercury. Back in the 1960's, it was kept in a steel flask that was either 1 quart or 1/2 gallon and it weighed in the neighborhood of 86 pounds. If you are keeping it in a 2 gallon container, I would be very careful how you handle it, because the container must be ready to burst at the seams. In fact, I can't even understand how you could even lift a 2 gallon container without difficulty.

chim · Dec 9, 2003

I helped the chemistry teacher handle a container of mercury way back when I was in HS. The container was larger in diameter than a hand-held propane tank, and I'd guess held a gallon? It was constructed much like a compressed gas clyinder. Anyway, I was absolutely amazed something so small could weigh so much..............chim

Oh yeah, we did use some to make coins real nice and shiny /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

BIGUN · Dec 9, 2003

That’s what I was wondering, is how much would two gallons of mercury weigh and thinking it would take someone with a lot better back than mine to pack it around.

AndyM,
I do remember doing that in about second grade. We had a small bottle of the stuff in the back of the room and we would roll the silver balls around in our hands. One kid said his Dad told him we shouldn’t be doing that because it was poisonous. We all let him know that he was full of it and it wasn’t going to hurt us one bit. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

I guess the stuff used to be pretty valuable before it became so notorious, maybe still is. I can remember my Dad talking about being on a stakeout in the early 60’s to catch thieves stealing mercury from oil field equipment.

Junkman · Dec 9, 2003

( Tractornut......... I can't even fathom what a 2 gallon can of mercury would look like, because when I was in the scrap metal business with my dad, we dealt in mercury. Back in the 1960's, it was kept in a steel flask that was either 1 quart or 1/2 gallon and it weighed in the neighborhood of 86 pounds. If you are keeping it in a 2 gallon container, I would be very careful how you handle it, because the container must be ready to burst at the seams. In fact, I can't even understand how you could even lift a 2 gallon container without difficulty. )

I made a small mistake on the above post. I called a friend and had him look up the weight of mercury. According to his engineering book, it weighs 849 pounds per cubic foot. There is 1.6 gallons per cubic foot. If we round that down to 6 quarts, each quart will weigh 141.5 pounds..... I will have to call my brother to have him refresh my memory as to the "tare" weight of the flask. My memory cells had remembered 86#, but at this point, I know that to be incorrect.

DocHeb · Dec 9, 2003

( That’s what I was wondering, is how much would two gallons of mercury weigh )

Per Weights of Various Materials from READE, mercury weighs 849 lbs per cubic foot (or 113 lbs per gallon (with 7.48 gallons per cubic foot)).

BIGUN · Dec 9, 2003

OK, we got a discrepancy here. Junkman just thinking about it, it seems like your figure would be the correct one, but after consulting my handy dandy “Convert” program I see DocHeb is the winner. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

DocHeb · Dec 10, 2003

I always find it amazing that there are 7.48 gallons in a cubic foot. It doesn't seem possible when you look at the size of a gallon of milk, yet go to Google.com and enter a search for "gallons in a cubic foot".

bgott · Dec 10, 2003

Mercury is used to recover gold from black sand by prospectors. When I lived in Nevada everybody I knew that played in the desert had a jug or two stashed for their prospecting. You could buy or sell it in pawnshops by the 76 pound flask.