Those brittle, chalky shingles on your pre-1980 house — often with a wavy bottom edge and a faint grain pattern — may be cement-asbestos siding. Here's the good news: intact siding is one of the most stable asbestos products ever made, and removal isn't always necessary. We test it, tell you honestly whether it can stay, be covered or should come off, and remove it with proper containment when it's time.
Cement-asbestos siding — shingles, lap boards and rigid panels, often sold under the trade name transite — was a workhorse exterior on homes built before 1980. It's common across older Boise neighborhoods like the North End, the Bench and South Boise Village, and all over the historic housing stock in Nampa and Caldwell, plus farm outbuildings, garages and light-industrial buildings in Garden City. The material is dense cement reinforced with asbestos fibers: fireproof, rot-proof, and nearly indestructible when left alone.
That density is the key fact. Intact cement siding is non-friable — the fibers are locked in a hard cement matrix and aren't released just by being on your wall. The risk shows up when the material is cut, drilled, sawed, broken, crushed, pressure-blasted or demolished. A circular saw through a transite panel is a genuine fiber release; the same panel hanging quietly on the house is generally low-risk.
As always: appearance can't confirm asbestos. Plenty of old fiber-cement products are asbestos-free, and modern Hardie-style siding looks similar to the untrained eye. A lab test from $299 settles it before you plan a re-side, a remodel or a sale.
1. Leave it in place. Intact siding that isn't deteriorating and won't be disturbed can often simply stay. Keep it painted, avoid drilling or nailing into it, and document it for future work. Cost: $0. We'll tell you when this is the right answer — it often is.
2. Cover it. New siding can sometimes be installed over cement-asbestos siding when the system is designed so fastening doesn't unnecessarily break the old material. The asbestos stays, so the location should be documented and disclosed to future workers and buyers. This pairs with our encapsulation and enclosure services and typically costs far less than removal.
3. Remove it. When siding is cracked, storm-damaged, delaminating, or in the way of an addition, window replacement or demolition, removal is the clean permanent fix. Planning range for the Treasure Valley: $8–$15 per square foot of wall surface, with final pricing after inspection, lab confirmation and measurement. Panels are removed whole wherever possible — kept wet, unbroken, lowered rather than dropped — then sealed, labeled and taken to an approved landfill with disposal documentation. See the full pricing guide for what a standard rate includes.
Transite shows up in more places than walls: roofing panels and shingles, flue pipes, ducts and outbuilding cladding all use the same cement-asbestos recipe, and re-roofing or demolition over those materials raises the same questions. Roofing felts and mastics from the era can contain asbestos too — worth checking before the tear-off is scheduled.
Removing siding is outdoor work, and the Treasure Valley's weather has opinions. Spring is typically Boise's windiest season, with fast-moving weather changes — and wind is exactly what you don't want when handling asbestos panels on scaffolding. Exterior jobs get planned around it: ground covers and barriers positioned for the wind direction, panels kept wet and handled whole, no cutting or breaking on the wall, and work paused when gusts make dust control unreliable.
Summer brings 100°F afternoons that are hard on crews in protective gear (expect early starts), and winter cold complicates the wet methods that keep fibers down. The best exterior windows are generally late April through June and September into early October — if your re-side or addition has a date, get the abatement scheduled a few weeks ahead. Our process and timeline guide covers seasonal planning in detail.
One more planning note: demolition of a garage or outbuilding clad in transite may trigger notification requirements even for small structures, and demolition of regulated buildings generally requires notification even when no asbestos is found. We flag what applies to your project before anyone swings a hammer.
The calls we get about siding usually start one of three ways. "The hailstorm cracked a bunch of shingles." Broken cement siding sheds sharp fragments into the yard — keep people away, don't mow or blow near debris, and get an assessment; storm losses may also involve your insurer. "My contractor stopped the remodel." Good contractor. Window replacements, additions and demo work that cut into suspect siding should wait for a lab result — we test fast and coordinate with your builder so the schedule holds. "We're buying/selling and the inspector flagged the siding." A test plus a written removal or leave-in-place recommendation is usually all the transaction needs; asbestos siding on its own rarely kills a deal.
While you're thinking about the exterior, remember the same-era interior materials: popcorn ceilings, vinyl floor tile and mastic and pipe insulation frequently share a roof with transite siding. One inspection can scope all of it.
Often yes. Intact cement siding that isn't being cut, drilled, broken or allowed to deteriorate may remain in place. Keep it painted and undisturbed, document its location, and plan ahead before any project that would disturb it — window replacement, additions, new siding or demolition all change the picture.
Transite is a historical trade name that became shorthand for cement-asbestos products: siding, flat and corrugated panels, ducts, flues and pipe. These products are dense and non-friable when intact, but sawing, crushing, drilling, weathering or breaking them can release fibers — which is why demolition and renovation are the trigger points.
Sometimes. Covering can work when the old siding is stable and the new system is designed so fastening doesn't unnecessarily damage the material. The asbestos remains on the house, so document it and tell future contractors before they cut in. We'll assess whether your walls are a good covering candidate or whether removal first is smarter.
Keep people and pets away from the fragments, and don't mow, sweep, leaf-blow or drive over them. Broken cement siding is sharp and no longer intact, so it's handled as regulated debris. Photograph the damage for your insurer and call for an assessment — exterior cleanup accounts for weather, soil and neighboring property.
Possibly — roofing felt, built-up roofing layers, shingles, mastics, flashing products and transite roof panels from the same era may contain asbestos. Re-roofing, solar installation and demolition can disturb concealed layers, so older roofs are worth testing before tear-off. Exterior location doesn't remove worker-protection or disposal requirements.
Testing from $299 across Boise, Nampa, Caldwell and the Treasure Valley. Removal from $8/sq ft — or honest advice to leave it be.
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