Gaco Asbestos Roof Waterproofing in Tralee — Encapsulation Without Removal

Tralee is Kerry’s county town, home to 26,079 people at Census 2022 and to Kerry County Council, whose headquarters are at County Buildings, Rathass. The council covers the town through its Tralee Municipal District. As a county town, Tralee brings together commercial premises, workshops and stores in the town with the farm buildings of the countryside around it, and asbestos cement roofs can be found on both.

The south-west is one of the wettest parts of Ireland, and that is the most important local fact for an old roof. Met Éireann’s Valentia Observatory in south Kerry averaged 1,646.5 mm of rain a year over 1991 to 2020, with 1 mm or more on about 203 days. That is well over half the days in the year. Asbestos cement that is wet that often weathers steadily: the surface erodes, moss and lichen take a firm hold, fixings corrode and sheet ends over gutters soften. Leaks often start at the laps and ridges long before a roof looks like it is failing.

Around Tralee, Teagasc’s Kerry and Limerick advisory region reports dairy, beef and sheep enterprises dominating, supported by around 88 local farm discussion groups with some 1,250 farmer members. Those farms depend on cubicle houses, calf sheds, sheep housing and haybarns, many roofed in corrugated asbestos cement. Encapsulation seals those roofs without removing them. Gaco urethane coatings, U91 and U92 being the grades used on asbestos cement, are applied over the existing sheets to create a continuous waterproof film, and animals, stock or machinery can usually stay under cover. An approved installer surveys, replaces broken sheets and cleans off growth without abrading the cement. In Kerry’s weather the coating is booked into dry spells within Gaco’s limits rather than a fixed date. Duratite supplies the materials and the approved installer carries out the work.

In Tralee and across Kerry, the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Exposure to Asbestos) Regulations 2006 (S.I. No. 386 of 2006, as amended) govern work that could disturb asbestos cement, and the Health and Safety Authority enforces them. Fragile sheets mean the method relies on staging and boards, and the risk assessment decides whether notification is needed. Kerry County Council is the building control authority, and TGD L 2022 applies if insulation is changed. The island-of-Ireland reference project for asbestos roof encapsulation is SAICA Warrenpoint, Co. Down.

When you get in touch about a Tralee roof, say whether the building is in town or on a farm, what it houses, and when it would be least disruptive to work on it. Photos of the laps and ridges, and of any drips inside, help the installer plan the survey.