Hi group,

I've got a 1989-built house, which has ventilated soffits, made of a white
board-like material, with small shiny crystalline bits visible in.

The vents are slots with mesh over, but I want to fit a round plastic grille
for a bathroom extractor fan. I've read some of the archives, which
mention cryolite asbestos cement soffit boards - were these still likely to
be fitted in 1989? Some people seem to think gypsum boards are hard to
distinguish from the asbestos ones.

I suppose what I'm asking is:

a) As they were put up in '89, are they likely to be asbestos cement ones?
If it's possible that they are, any way to confirm?

b) If it's asbestos, can I carefully drill a small hole, and go round it
with a saw blade, to make my cutout (~135mm) without too high a risk?

Cheers,

David