Asbestos Tile Glue

When you remove that floor covering to make way for new flooring you may encounter the mastic and wonder whether it is safe to remove the main concern surrounding this question is that black mastic often contains asbestos.

Asbestos tile glue.

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. Black mastic also known as cutback adhesive was commonly used to glue flooring tiles down. But then asbestos was found to be a health hazard. While an expert test by a certified asbestos testing lab is required for sure identification of the asbestos content of most materials.

The tiles may have asbestos too. Asbestos adhesive removal is best left to qualified asbestos abatement professionals especially when old asbestos glue daubs have become friable easily crumbled by hand. How to recognize roof or floor adhesive mastic or sealant that may contain asbestos. If your building was built before 1980 mastic mixed with asbestos may have been used to seal your tiles to the floor.

Asbestos flooring often has black mastic which is a type of adhesive on the back. It is always safest to leave asbestos flooring removal to asbestos abatement professionals. Most 9 inch vinyl tiles and many 12 inch tiles and the mastic adhesive that anchors them to the subfloor contain a level of asbestos. It was also resistant to moisture oil grease heat alkalis and acids.

This type of adhesive was asphalt based and most likely contains asbestos whether or not the tiles. The mastic itself usually has asbestos in it. How to remove asbestos tiles safely. This article provides dates of manufacture of asbestos containing adhesives mastics sealants and includes photographs and text describing the appearance of such products.

Asbestos adhesive was used for asphalt flooring tiles and vinyl or linoleum sheet tile because it strengthened the flooring and made it more durable. Asbestos dust can be minimized by wetting the adhesive material and then scraping it by hand but even then the professional must be wearing protective gear and a hepa mask to stay safe from asbestos exposure. But removing the tiles can disturb this trapped asbestos so the best strategy is painting over asbestos. Common in homes built in the 20th century black mastic was used as an adhesive for ceramic tile linoleum and other flooring materials.

Even if the vinyl flooring is pulled up intact the old adhesive underneath may also contain asbestos. You can t see it if the floor is intact but you can spot the black adhesive if some of the tiles have already popped off the floor.