Linoleum And Asbestos Floor

Sanding sawing drilling or tearing the tiles out however can release fibers into the air.

Linoleum and asbestos floor.

Linoleum is an all natural floor covering composed of dried linseed oil wood dust cork and jute and it doesn t contain asbestos. 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. Hence the same precautions need to be taken with the glue as with the tile. Congoleum vinylbest vinyl asbestos floor tiles were produced in the 1950s along with congoleum gold seal inlaid linoleum flooring shown at above left from a life magazine advertisement and the congoleum sheet linoleum shown in a florida home left provided a scattershot or color fleck pattern.

If your floor can be thicker without causing problems install a porcelain floor over the old asbestos. These tiles are 3 8 inch to 1 2 inch thick so measure beneath doorways cabinets and at. Asbestos floor tiles will not release toxic fibers and pose a health risk unless they are disturbed. The safe way to remove the tiles and the glue is with a floor scraper looks like a large putty knife on a shovel handle and warm water.

Because linoleum was invented long before vinyl people often refer to both types of flooring as linoleum but there s a big difference. Sanding will release dangerous quantities of asbestos into the air. Photo by russell kaye 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. 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.

Scrape the residue left. Asbestos in vinyl products becomes dangerous when microscopic fibers of the mineral are released and become airborne. As with any asbestos containing material acm the first step to finding asbestos in linoleum sheet flooring and vinyl tiles is. Porcelain floors are extremely versatile and durable with tile sizes up to 24 inches available for a clean modern look with fewer grout lines.

Asbestos vinyl floor tiles.