My team manages a number of buildings in Los Alamos, NM that were built in the 1940s as part of the Manhattan Project. These buildings have been determined eligible for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places and are part of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park.
During the war, these buildings were intended to be temporary, and a number of them had what appears to be gypsum board used for exterior siding. The gypsum board exterior siding was later covered with asbestos shingles when the buildings transitioned to longer-term use. As part of ongoing maintenance, replacement of the asbestos shingles with approved non-asbestos shingles has been proposed. However, we'd really like to remove the shingles altogether and restore the exterior closer to its original appearance. One idea I had is to use a cement board product to achieve a similar, but more durable, result. We will, of course, consult with the State Historic Preservation Office, but I wanted to do some further research first.
Any thoughts or recommendations on using cement board as a replacement, or suggestions for an alternative product would be appreciated.
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Cameron Townsend Assoc. AIA
Los Alamos, NM
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