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Hello friends of Hive, I hope you have an incredible week, enjoying good architecture and design, today I would like to share with you, about a building material that was widely used in my state of Merida in the 70's and 80's, but became a social problem, due to its harmful properties to health. We are talking about Asbestos .
Asbestos is a material that was widely used as a roof covering, I have seen it in various presentations as corrugated sheets and also in the form of trapezoidal channels, it has a considerable thickness and quite heavy. I can imagine that they came to use it a lot because it is a very resistant roof and it is quite rigid, it provided security and it was more economical. Over time, they discovered its disadvantages, until they banned its use.
Living under this type of roof, I have witnessed that these roofs are very susceptible to moisture, with the passage of time, many mold stains appear and leaks begin, which are not only an aesthetic problem, but also put at risk the safety of the house and the welfare of the family. In addition, it gives off small particles as a kind of dust, which have been declared guilty of being the cause of various diseases of the respiratory system, especially lung cancer, as these small particles can lodge in our airways.
Hola amigos de Hive, espero que pasen una semana increíble, disfrutando de la buena arquitectura y diseño, el día de hoy quisiera compartir con ustedes, acerca de un material de construcción que fue muy usado en mi Estado Mérida en los 70 y 80, pero que se convirtió en un problema social, debido a sus propiedades nocivas para la salud. Se trata del Asbesto..
El Asbesto es un material que fue muy utilizado como cubierta de techo, lo he visto en varias presentaciones como láminas onduladas y también en forma de canales trapezoidales, tiene un espesor considerable y bastante pesado. Puedo imaginar que llegaron a usarlo mucho debido a que es un techo bastante resistente y es bastante rígido, brindaba seguridad y era más económico. Con el tiempo, fueron descubriendo sus desventajas, hasta prohibir su uso.
Al vivir bajo este tipo de techos, soy testigo que estos techos son muy susceptibles a la humedad, con el paso del tiempo van apareciendo bastantes manchas de moho y comienzan las filtraciones, que no solo son un problema estético, sino también ponen en riesgo la seguridad de la vivienda y el bienestar de la familia. Además, desprende pequeñas partículas como una especie de polvo, las cuales han sido declaradas culpables de ser las causantes de diversas enfermedades del sistema respiratorio, especialmente Cáncer Pulmonar, ya que estas pequeñas partículas pueden alojarse en nuestras vías respiratorias.
My experience with asbestos roofing
Mi Experiencia con el techo de asbesto
Since I was a child, asbestos has been present in my life, I remember that the roof covering of my grandmother's house was made of this material, at that time, I saw it as just another type of roof and simply did not give it any importance. As time went by, this roof became a problem due to the humidity and the noticeable mold stains, until my uncles and aunts managed to replace it with another roof.
I can't say for sure that the roof was the cause of my grandmother's health problems, but all I can remember is that she suffered from respiratory related problems for a long time. Perhaps, the weather was a determining factor and that accelerated the moisture problems in the roof, since the house is located in a rather cold area, where thick fog embraced us every afternoon.
Years later, when I was doing my internship as a Construction Technician in 2009, I had the opportunity to participate in the execution of a project whose objective was to carry out a census of the houses that still had this material in the Antonio Pinto Salinas Municipality of the State of Merida. This municipality consists of 23 communities which we visited for three months, some sites were very distant and difficult to access, it was certainly an enriching experience that left me many lessons learned. Many of the families we visited were unaware that the use of material was prohibited by health agencies, others were aware of this, but replacing the roof by their own means was practically a difficult dream to realize.
Desde pequeña el asbesto, ha estado presente en mi vida, recuerdo que la cubierta de techo de la casa de mi abuela, era de este material, en ese momento, lo veía como un tipo de techo más y simplemente no le daba importancia. Con el tiempo está cubierta, se fue convirtiendo en un problema debido a la humedad y las notables manchas de moho, hasta que mis tíos lograron sustituirlo por otro techo.
No puedo decir con propiedad que el techo haya sido la causa de los problemas de la salud de mi abuela, pero todo lo que puedo recordar es que sufrió de problemas relacionados con el sistema respiratorio por mucho tiempo. Tal vez, el clima fue un factor determinante y que aceleró los problemas de humedad en la cubierta, ya que la vivienda está ubicada en una zona bastante fría, donde la neblina espesa nos abrazaba cada tarde.
Años más tarde, cuando hacía mis pasantías como Técnico en Construcción en el año 2009, tuve la oportunidad de participar en la ejecución de un proyecto cuyo objetivo, era realizar un censo de las viviendas que aún tenían este material, en el Municipio Antonio Pinto Salinas del Estado Mérida. Este Municipio consta de 23 comunidades las cuales recorrimos durante tres meses, algunos sitios eran muy lejanos y de difícil acceso, sin duda fue una experiencia enriquecedora que me dejo muchos aprendizajes. Muchas de las familias que visitamos, desconocían que el uso de material fue prohibido por los organismos de la salud, otros si tenían conocimiento de esto, pero sustituir el techo por sus propios medios era prácticamente un sueño difícil de realizar.
What I could notice is that most of the houses that had this roof, had humidity problems and the presence of mold was evident, most of the families told us that they had not presented any important symptoms caused by asbestos, although we did find cases where they claimed to have some disease related to respiratory problems, asthma, bronchitis among others, but they did not know that there was a great possibility that asbestos was a determining factor in their health.
In one of these visits, we arrived at a beautiful place, a very large house, generally the houses in this area were characterized by having a huge central courtyard surrounded by the rooms, the kitchens and living room were also spacious, this type of housing was typical mainly because this area is coffee and cocoa producers, then they needed to have those patios for drying coffee, they also had many workers in charge, where the housewife, cooked for all of them, so they needed the kitchen to be quite comfortable. It was a beautiful and cozy place, but its roof was made of asbestos and unfortunately this family was suffering because lung cancer had touched their doors, this was a case that shook my heart and made me think a lot about the importance of replacing this material soon, the doctors told the family that they should build a separate room for the affected man, to prevent him from being exposed to this material because probably this was the trigger of this terrible disease.
Lo que pude notar, es que la mayoría de las viviendas que poseían este techo, tenían problemas de humedad y la presencia de moho era evidente, la mayoría de las familias nos decían que no habían presentado ningún síntoma importante, causado por el asbesto, aunque si encontramos casos donde aseguraban tener alguna enfermedad referente a problemas respiratorios, asmas, bronquitis entre otros, pero no sabían que existía una gran posibilidad de que el asbesto fuese un factor determinante en su salud.
En una de esas visitas, llegamos a un sitio hermoso, una casa grandísima, generalmente las casas de esta zona se caracterizaban por tener un patio enorme central rodeado por las habitaciones, la cocinas y sala también eran espaciosas, este tipo de viviendas se era típico principalmente porque esta zona es cafetalera y también eran productores de cacao, entonces necesitaban tener esos patios para el secado del café, también tenían muchos obreros a cargo, donde el ama de casa, cocinaba para todos ellos, por eso necesitaban que la cocina fuese bastante cómoda. Era un sitio hermoso y acogedor, pero su techo era de asbesto y lamentablemente esta familia estaba sufriendo porque el Cáncer pulmonar, había tocado sus puertas, este fue un caso que estremeció mi corazón y me hizo pensar mucho acerca de la importancia de sustituir este material pronto, los médicos le indicaron a la familia que debían construir una habitación aparte para el señor afectado, para evitar que siguiera expuesto ante este material porque probablemente este fue el detonante de esta terrible enfermedad.
It is sad to think that the same roof that gives us shelter and shelter is making us sick little by little, I think that since then I have felt more interest in this type of housing, a problem that is still latent and seems to have been forgotten. I do not know what happened with all these cases, because I quit my job to dedicate myself to my engineering studies, but it was a great experience and I hope that this project has borne fruit and that at least the most critical cases have received the help they needed to improve their lives.
And as life does not stop turning, 5 years later I moved to an urbanization located in the Campo Elías Municipality, Ejido, Mérida State, whose roofs are made of this material, it was inaugurated 43 years ago and it is at this time, where they built several urbanizations like this one, also isolated houses, with roofs of this type. Most of the families have managed to replace their roofs, but there is still a large number of houses that remain with the original roof and like this community, there are many more throughout the state, the country and certainly in several Latin American countries.
Es triste pensar que el mismo techo que nos da abrigo y resguardo nos esté enfermando poco a poco, creo que a partir de entonces he sentido mayor interés en este tipo de viviendas, un problema que aún sigue latente y que parece que fue olvidado. Desconozco que paso con todos estos casos, porque renuncie a mi trabajo para dedicarme a mis estudios de Ingeniería, pero fue una gran experiencia y espero que ese proyecto haya dejado sus frutos y que al menos los casos más críticos hayan recibido la ayuda que requerían para mejorar sus vidas.
Y como la vida no deja de dar vueltas, 5 años después me mude a una Urbanización ubicada en el Municipio Campo Elías, Ejido, Estado Mérida, cuyas cubiertas de techo son de este material, fue inaugurada hace 43 años y es en esta época, donde construyeron varios urbanismos como este, también casas aisladas, con techos de este tipo. Gran parte de las familias, han logrado sustituir sus techos, pero aún existe una gran cantidad de casas que se mantienen con el techo original y así como esta comunidad, existen muchas más en todo el estado, el país y seguramente en varios países de América Latina.
Why do we keep finding houses with these types of roofs - a ban is not enough?
Por qué seguimos encontrando casas con este tipo de cubiertas?. ¿Una prohibición no es suficiente?
After the use of this material in construction became popular and it was discovered that its fibers were carcinogenic, many countries began to ban it and Venezuela was one of them. But even though more than a decade has passed since then, we are still observing houses and institutions with this type of roofs. Why? Well, the main reason is the obvious, it requires money and a lot of it, but it is not my interest to touch that subject, so I would like to talk about the operational and environmental difficulties that we can have to replace this material.
First of all, we must take into account that they are old roofs, therefore, unsafe, so it requires prepared and trained personnel to dismantle them, who have all the necessary safety tools, to avoid any accident, besides this roof is quite heavy.
Before its removal, it is necessary to have a planning and it is necessary to obtain a series of permits for its removal. We cannot remove the material and leave it in the first place we find, because we would only be moving the problem. So, where can we move it to, maybe to a shed or a site intended for this purpose or I don't know, I can think of maybe burying it.
But from the structural point of view, the removal of these roofs could affect their structures and the houses would certainly require that their structure be reinforced, because these houses were designed for this type of load, which is totally different from us building a mezzanine slab and another level above, which is what people would generally like to do, but we have to ask ourselves will the foundations and the columns have the capacity to support this extra weight. A detailed analysis of this is required, especially if it is a highly seismic zone like my State of Merida.
Después de que el uso de este material en la construcción fuese popular y descubrieran que sus fibras eran cancerígenas, en muchos países comenzaron a prohibirlo y Venezuela fue uno de ellos. Pero a pesar de que ya paso más de una década desde entonces, aún seguimos observando, casas e instituciones con este tipo de techos. ¿Por qué? Bueno, la principal razón, es la obvia, se requiere dinero y bastante, pero no es de mi interés tocar ese tema, así que quisiera hablarles de las dificultades operativas y ambientales que podemos tener para sustituir este material.
En primer lugar, debemos tomar en cuenta que son techos viejos, por tanto, inseguros, entonces se requiere personal preparado y capacitado para desmontarlos, que cuenten con todas las herramientas de seguridad necesarias, para evitar cualquier accidente, además este techo es bastante pesado.
Antes de realizar su remoción, es necesario que exista una planificación y es necesario obtener una serie de permisos para su traslado. No podemos retirar el material y dejarlo en el primer lugar que encontremos, porque solo estaríamos trasladando el problema. Entonces?, a donde podemos trasladarlo, tal vez a un galpón o sitio destinado para esto o no sé, se me ocurre tal vez enterrarlo.
Pero desde el punto de vista estructural, la remoción de estos techos podrían afectar sus estructuras y las casas seguramente requieran que se refuerce su estructura, porque estas casas fueron diseñadas para este tipo de carga, que es totalmente diferente a que construyamos una losa de entrepiso y otro nivel arriba, que es lo que generalmente las personas quisieran hacer, pero debemos preguntarnos tendrán las fundaciones y las columnas la capacidad de soportar este peso extra. Se requiere un análisis detallado de esto, especialmente si es una zona altamente sísmica como mi Estado Mérida.
As you can see, it is not an easy task, next I will share some pictures of the plans of these houses and here is where I would like to ask you for some suggestions on how you would cover this situation. Do you think it is necessary to reinforce the structure, place new columns, perhaps, think of a steel structure parallel to the existing one? I think my main concern is how the structure will behave in the face of these changes, the ideal would be to find a way to improve the house, without the need to demolish what has already been built.
Como ven, no es una tarea fácil, a continuación compartiré algunas fotografías de los planos de estas viviendas y aquí es donde quisiera pedirles algunas sugerencias, de cómo abarcarían esta situación. ¿Creen que es necesario, reforzar la estructura, colocar nuevas columnas, tal vez, pensar en una estructura de acero paralela a la ya existente?. Creo que mi principal preocupación es como se comportara la estructura ante estos cambios, lo ideal sería encontrar la forma de mejorar la vivienda, sin necesidad de demoler lo ya construido.
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Photographs taken from the set of plans delivered to the homeowners. Ejido, Merida. Project carried out by INAVI (National Housing Institute), Nov 1979.
Fotografías tomadas al juego de planos entregado a los propietarios de la vivienda. Ejido, Mérida. Proyecto realizado por INAVI (Instituto Nacional de la Vivienda), Nov 1979 Replacing the roof of these houses is necessary, not only from the sanitary point of view, these houses are very nice, comfortable and are located in a good sector, so a new roof would add more architectural value to the urbanization, at the same time that the families would considerably improve their quality of life. A temporary solution that I think may be feasible, is to install false ceilings or ceilings, as they are also called, this will reduce a little exposure to these particles for some time. I hope that soon they will take action on this problem and bring you a publication full of good news, which enhances the architecture of this beautiful sector. Sustituir el techo de estas viviendas es necesario, no solo desde el punto de vista sanitario, estas casas son muy bonitas, cómodas y están ubicadas en un buen Sector, así que un nuevo techo les agregaría mayor valor arquitectónico a la urbanización, al mismo tiempo que las familias mejorarían considerablemente su calidad de vida. Una solución temporal que pienso puede ser factible, es instalar techos falsos o cielos rasos, como también suelen llamarlos, esto reducirá un poco la exposición a estas partículas por algún tiempo. Espero que pronto tomen medidas ante esta problemática y traerles una publicación llena de buenas noticias, que realce la arquitectura de este bonito sector. I hope you liked my publication, to make the post I based it on my personal experience with the material and everything I learned in my old job. I also read some interesting related articles like the one below. Espero que mi publicación haya sido de su agrado, para realizar el post me base en mi experiencia personal con el material y todo lo que aprendí en mi antiguo trabajo. También leí algunos artículos interesantes relacionados como el que les dejo a continuación.
1: Used roof straps / 2: Roof plant / 3: Column and floor slab details / 4: Roof profile
Asbestos and cancer risk What is asbestos?
My language is Spanish so I use the translator DeepL, in its free version, the images were taken by me with my with my Yezz max phone.Cover and divider edited in canva
Mi idioma es el español por tanto uso el traductor DeepL, en su versión gratuita, las imagenes fueron tomadas por mi, con mi telefono Yezz max. Portada y separador editada en canva.
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Greetings @doriangel, I congratulate you for this very interesting publication I tell you that in Venezuela in my great-grandfather's house the roof was made of abestos and my grandfather installed false ceiling throughout the house, this mostly for aesthetics but also helped their health because they never had respiratory problems thank God. About the work in the house that you show my opinion is that if the area is seismic the constructions should not be high or heavy, rather it is good that they are of a single plant and of light material especially if you are going to take a slab as a roof, of course even if it is a light slab it is advisable to reinforce the structure with new columns and this can be done without demolishing the construction, depending on the case, this is my opinion friend. Greetings and blessings!
Hello thank you very much, if you are right the ceiling, it is a good idea, while it can be replaced. I think that necessarily, it requires columns, unless it is for another light ceiling, but it would not make much sense, because of the security issue.
The people in the urbanization that have managed to replace the roof, have built a level above, I hope they have taken into account at least the minimum with respect to the structural part, but I can assure you that most of them have not.
Greetings and blessings to you.
Yes, it is likely that people are not watching some important rules. You have good ideas, I wish you luck my friend, have a great day.
A great day for you too.
Mas detallado no puede estar amiga. Felicitaciones ingeniero.
Un detalle espectacular.
Saludos.
Thank you friend, I tried to describe the situation as best I could. Thank you for reading me.
Dear @emily22. Please be reminded to always add/provide the English language translations to your comments/replies for the reading convenience of our international Hive audience. Thank you for your consideration.
Thank you for sharing this valuable information regarding asbestos. I've heard about asbestos but have no idea it has been used on roofs before.
I am not sure but we have a lot of around 100 years old houses in my province with similar roofs. I suspect that it may have asbestos too. It is common to collect rain water using this roofs which they use for washing dishes and even cooking food.
I may need to do further reading on this topic specifically in our country.
Again, thanks for sharing.
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Thanks to you for reading my post. I hope my information is useful.
I hope it is not that material and does not contain asbestos, what they use as a water collector. Anyway it does not hurt to find out a little. This material has not been used for a long time, however, there are still houses or places, which still have this type of material on their roofs, because replacing it with another, is not easy at all. Thank you very much for your support.
You're very much welcome.
I will definitely check on it. And I hope that I'm wrong about it.
I'm sure it will. Don't worry. Have a great day. Let me know when you find out.
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the roof made of asbestos is comfortable inside. when we are in the house the hot sun does not enter the house. different from a roof made of zinc, when the sun is hot, when we are in the house it is also hot.
Yes, you are right, I forgot to write that detail and I had it in mind actually. That too, is one reason why it has not been replaced, because if it is replaced it is with something better, zinc or acerolit, it has its pros and cons. One disadvantage is what you mention and another is insecurity as zinc or acerolit are more vulnerable and are not as good thermal insulators as asbestos.
The problem with asbestos are those fibers that it gives off and those humidity stains that appear with time, at least in my region which is a climate that varies a lot, it is hot and cold at the same time, if it were not for this they would surely continue using it as a construction material, since it is quite rigid and durable.
Thanks for stopping by my post. Blessings
I've seen lots of houses here in our country that uses asbestos, it seems to me that they can last a lifetime.
Yes it is a very durable material, The disadvantage is that when they begin to deteriorate, they begin to crack and fall. At home it happened a few days ago and it is dangerous, because it is a rigid and heavy material.
As a construction material it is good, I do not deny that, but the problem is that prolonged exposure to its fibers is not good for some people.
Yes, you are correct, it is dangerous to people.
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Certainly dear @doriangel. The fortunate discovery of asbestos as a detrimental roofing material was a painful wake-up call for all activities involved in its applications. However, the worst-hit industry would be, of course, architecture, design, and building construction. Hopefully, with several existing infrastructure still using this hazardous component nowadays, concerned professionals would continuously devise ways and means to dispose of them properly to safeguard public health. 😊
Thank you for sharing this eye-opening environmental dilemma for the valuable awareness of everyone. 😊
Thanks to you for the support and I was open window to talk about architecture and construction. This is a rather controversial and sensitive topic, especially on residential sites where exposure is constant. I hope that little by little, these measures will be developed and the material can be replaced or at least look for other alternatives so that it no longer causes damage.
Days ago I heard that in a well-known museum in my city, they were replacing this roof, I was very happy about this. Happy week and blessings always.
😍
Awesome! Such a great relief to know that your locals have been tirelessly working around the clock to replace asbestos with more environmentally friendly components. Here's to the best of health for the sustainability of our one and only Mother Earth! 😊