Vinyl Floor Over Asbestos Tiles

From the 1930s to the mid 1970s vinyl flooring contained asbestos which is not safe for you to remove yourself.

Vinyl floor over asbestos tiles.

Asbestos found in the vinyl floor tiles at the toh tv project house means a state licensed and well protected abatement crew must do the removal. In floor tiles asbestos is used primarily for its insulation properties and its ability to resist fire. That said it can be difficult to get a level surface for the new floor especially if the old tiles have chipped away. One of the biggest factors of installing a new floor over the old is thickness.

Like floor tiles vinyl sheet flooring is a long lasting and economical material and it also offers more aesthetic options to suit a homeowner s taste. Some of the flooring tiles have come off and you see. Asbestos in floor tiles. Unfortunately vinyl sheet flooring manufactured with an asbestos backing poses a serious exposure risk when it is disturbed.

What are asbestos floor tiles. Vinyl is a type of plastic that has long been a popular material for floor tiles and sheets. If you are hiring a flooring company they may be hesitant to work around asbestos tiles. Vinyl tiles with asbestos are all 12 12 or 9 9 tiles with asbestos.

In addition to the tiles themselves a layer of mastic a type of adhesive below the tiles is also likely to contain asbestos. Cork pattern vinyl asbestos floor tiles were produced in at least three hues by armstrong as well as montgomery ward and sears and possibly kentile and other companies. Asbestos is a mineral that lends fireproofing qualities to any substance it is mixed with. Over time asphalt which was a main ingredient in asbestos tiles can degrade and cause the tiles to look grimy or discolored in spots.

But that changes as soon as you decide to remove it. In many cases installing a new floor over the tiles encapsulates the asbestos fibers and is an acceptable way to manage the material. Fortunately it is not difficult to install vinyl tile over your vinyl floor as. But the flooring companies aim wasn t so much to make the floor tiles fireproof as it was to make the tiles more durable.

For about 35 years flooring companies included asbestos when they manufactured the vinyl tiles. You can assume this floor tile contains asbestos. Photo by russell kaye i m told that the old vinyl floor tiles in the basement of our 1950 house contain asbestos and that i should not try to remove the tiles but cover them with wall to wall. Above we show a 9 x 9 cork patterned vinyl asbestos floor tile found in a 1960 s ranch style home in new york.