Asbestos Floor Tiles

What makes asbestos flooring dangerous.

Asbestos floor tiles.

What are asbestos floor tiles. Asbestos is a toxic mineral american manufacturers once mixed into many building materials. However as a favor to future owners of your house make some note of the fact that asbestos tiles are under the new flooring. If the material is in good condition it normally does not pose a threat because the asbestos is enclosed in vinyl preventing the fibers from escaping.

Vinyl is a type of plastic that has long been a popular material for floor tiles and sheets the problem is there could be traces of asbestos adhesive that are holding them in place that is dangerous to one s wellbeing. Asbestos vinyl floor tiles. 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. Asbestos in vinyl products becomes dangerous when microscopic fibers of the mineral are released and become airborne.

Many asbestos floor tiles including old vinyl asbestos flooring is generally safe to be around. Asbestos is a mineral that lends fireproofing qualities to any substance it is mixed with. Asbestos floor tiles were once a popular choice for flooring and you will often find old asbestos floor tiles hidden under carpets. You could also cover the tiles with new vinyl flooring linoleum or even ceramic tiles.

For about 35 years flooring companies included asbestos when they manufactured the vinyl tiles. Asbestos floor tiles were manufactured in three sizes. Textiles can be found in fuse boxes behind the actual fuse. The asbestos floor tile identification articles in this series illustrate that with the combination of design appearance and an idea of floor tile age many asbestos containing floor tiles or sheet flooring products can be reliably identified even before confirmation by a test by a certified asbestos testing laboratory.

But the flooring companies aim wasn t so much to make the floor tiles fireproof as it was to make the tiles more durable. That way no one will be endangered years from now when they start to rip up the new flooring and find asbestos tiles beneath. In floor tiles asbestos is used primarily for its insulation properties and its ability to resist fire in addition to the tiles themselves a layer of mastic a type of adhesive below the tiles is also likely to contain asbestos. Examine the condition of the tiles.

Workers must take many precautions to remove asbestos floor tiles safely and it is always safest to leave asbestos removal to qualified professionals. But that changes as soon as you decide to remove it. Asbestos in floor tiles. Sanding sawing drilling or tearing the tiles out however.