Common Asbestos Floor Tiles

Asbestos is actually a silicate based material that used to be commonly used in building construction for surfaces as common as walls or floor tiles.

Common asbestos floor tiles. Chrysotile white asbestos was the predominant form of asbestos used in uk floor tiles with less common use of tremolite and actinolite in uk asphalt asbestos or vinyl asbestos flooring. Unlike many asbestos containing materials vinyl asbestos flooring is generally safe to be around. 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. Asbestos floor tiles are fairly common in properties of a certain age and needn t be a reason to panic you may not even need to remove them.

The most common tiles that are positive are ones that measure 9 x 9. While those are the most common asbestos containing floor tiles many other tiles and floor coverings can be positive as well. 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. Mastic that is black is also a tell tale sign.

Asbestos a heat resistant fibrous silicate mineral was a common element in construction materials due to its resilient durable nature until the 1980s. Unfortunately vinyl sheet flooring manufactured with an asbestos backing poses a serious exposure risk when it is disturbed. The use of asbestos in building materials such as insulation rolled roofing siding and floor tiles was common in the first half of the 20th century and if you have an older home it may be lurking in your floor tiles. Before you panic it s important to realize that the best course of action may be to simply leave the tiles alone.

Nevertheless it pays to know how to identify them and asbestos floor tile removal is a serious business. Identifying asbestos floor tiles. But that changes as soon as you decide to remove it. However asbestos mining is a big industry in canada and lobbying by the asbestos industry held back regulation for decades.

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. Vinyl is a type of plastic that has long been a popular material for floor tiles and sheets. The risk for many people who live or work in buildings with old flooring is that it s hard to know if the building has asbestos floor tiles just by looking.