Asbestos Carpet Tiles
Asbestos floor tiles will not release toxic fibers and pose a health risk unless they are disturbed.
Asbestos carpet tiles. Vinyl tile is an excellent option for sealing in asbestos tiles. Mastic is a type of glue used to adhere tiles and vinyl flooring to the subfloor. Possible signs of asbestos mastic include discoloration and an oily texture. Vinyl tiles with asbestos.
Some asbestos containing flooring products were manufactured we estimate as early as the late 1920 s. Intact asbestos tiles are not a major risk and can in fact be left in place and covered with other materials such as carpet vinyl linoleum or concrete. Working with asbestos flooring can release toxic dust. There are two kinds of mastic associated with carpets the brown mastic and the black asphaltic mastic.
Carpet mastic is often postive often times mastic or glue as it is refered to sometimes may contain asbestos even though the carpets themselves are negative for asbestos. If your building was built before 1980 mastic mixed with asbestos may have been used to seal your tiles to the floor. If you aren t removing the old floor you may be creating a new floor that is too thick for doors to open and shut or for thresholds to have clearance. Vinyl is a type of plastic that has long been a popular material for floor tiles and sheets.
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 addition to the tiles themselves a layer of mastic a type of adhesive below the tiles is also likely to contain asbestos. Asbestos mastic will also always be black in color. 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 carpeting.
Asbestos in floor tiles in floor tiles asbestos is used primarily for its insulation properties and its ability to resist fire. Examine the condition of the tiles. In the 1940 s 1970 s and were produced by some manufacturers armstrong as late as 1980. Asphalt based asbestos floor tiles and later plastic or vinyl based asbestos flooring were popular in the u s.
Tiles that are disintegrating should be handled with extreme care. One of the biggest factors of installing a new floor over the old is thickness. At the university of connecticut new or recently installed floor tiles should not contain asbestos but our older 12 x 12 floor tile 9 x 9 floor tile floor tile mastics carpet glues cove bases and adhesives will likely contain asbestos.