Original Floor Are Asbestos

I don t recognize that exact flooring pattern jack and am guessing it s an early 1980s vinyl sheet flooring.

Original floor are asbestos. Vinyl floor tiles or sheet flooring were made or installed before 1986 should be treated as a floor covering presumed to contain asbestos or else have a sample tested and report the results here please. In many cases installing a new floor over the tiles encapsulates the asbestos fibers and is an acceptable way to manage the material. A great place to find information and clues as to whether your floor contains asbestos is finding an extra box of the existing floor tile tucked away somewhere. Stain proof fireproof stylish and affordable.

Asbestos vinyl flooring was a durable and economical material that offered many aesthetic options to suit a homeowner s taste. I actually don t know whether or not that s true. Often original floor packaging can be found stored away somewhere in the home. 9 9 floor tiles with asbestos.

Asbestos was used in vinyl wallpaper from the 1920s and in the vinyl floor tiles and sheet flooring that rose to prominence in the 1950s. Sanding sawing drilling or tearing the tiles out however can release fibers into the air. That said it can be difficult to get a level surface for the new floor especially if the old tiles have chipped away. However asbestos mining is a big industry in canada and lobbying by the asbestos industry held back regulation for decades.

If the floor is true linoleum damage does not present a danger of asbestos inhalation unless it extends all the way to the subfloor and exposes the mastic which may contain asbestos. Older vinyl or rubber floors that are damaged are a different story because the tiles can release asbestos so they need to be removed. 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. Believe it or not sometimes the answer to the mystery is as simple as finding the box it came in.

This requires having a piece of the flooring tested in a lab. The health risks of asbestos have been common knowledge for decades which gives many people the false impression that this problem has been dealt with. I sure hope you can salvage the original floor. Because asbestos was widely used prior to 1980 it s important to have older flooring tested before disturbing it.

I ended up taking up the old flooring in my kitchen and putting down new oak hardwood floor but that s not because of asbestos.