Lino Flooring Asbestos

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Lino flooring asbestos.

Asbestos floor tiles will not release toxic fibers and pose a health risk unless they are disturbed. Asbestos was used in various types of floor covering especially from the 1960s to the 1980s. Dry asbestos particles are lighter than air wet ones are less prone to become air borne. 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.

The most common use of asbestos was in the lining for vinyl sheets and floor tiles also known as lino or linoleum. In many cases the best thing to do about vinyl asbestos flooring is put a new layer of flooring on top of it. Sanding sawing drilling or tearing the tiles out however can release fibers into the air. Asbestos vinyl sheet flooring has two layers a top layer of vinyl and a bottom layer made from paper that contains asbestos.

However as a favor to future owners of your house make some note of the fact that asbestos tiles are under the new flooring. Resilient sheet flooring containing asbestos was also produced finding wide use as early as 1968. We are told. You could also cover the tiles with new vinyl flooring linoleum or even ceramic tiles.

You could also seal it with a coat of epoxy floor paint. Unfortunately vinyl sheet flooring manufactured with an asbestos backing poses a serious exposure risk when it is disturbed. As with any asbestos containing material acm the first step to finding asbestos in linoleum sheet flooring and vinyl tiles is. Asbestos was used to make the lino more durable.

It can cause lung cancer mesothelioma cancer of the larynx and ovaries and a health condition called asbestosis caused by fibrosis of the lungs. Asbestos containing sheet flooring in good condition in a residential environment is not a high risk of causing airborne asbestos hazards as the material is not friable. That means it is safe to walk on but not safe to scrape sand or use power tools on. That way no one will be endangered years from now when they start to rip up the new flooring and find asbestos tiles beneath.

Armstrong produced the excelon tile series beginning with a plastic asbestos floor tile series in 1954 referring to the product as vinyl plastic asbestos floor tiles beginning in 1955 and vinyl asbestos tiles from 1957 to 1980. Asbestos vinyl sheet flooring can be more dangerous to remove than tiles if proper precautions are not practiced.