Floor Glue With Asbestos

Folks licensed in asbestos abatement tell us that removing the floor in large chunks is reasonably safe.

Floor glue with asbestos.

If your building was built before 1980 mastic mixed with asbestos may have been used to seal your tiles to the floor. Asbestos adhesive was used for asphalt flooring tiles and vinyl or linoleum sheet tile because it strengthened the flooring and made it more durable. But then asbestos was found to be a health hazard. Mastic is a type of glue used to adhere tiles and vinyl flooring to the subfloor.

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 is a hazardous material that is present in some older linoleum flooring materials. Common in homes built in the 20th century black mastic was used as an adhesive for ceramic tile linoleum and other flooring materials. Black mastic also known as cutback adhesive was commonly used to glue flooring tiles down.

Low asbestos use banned. It can cause lung cancer mesothelioma cancer of the larynx and ovaries and a health condition called asbestosis caused by fibrosis of the lungs. Even if the vinyl flooring is pulled up intact the old adhesive underneath may also contain asbestos. Loving re removal of asbestos containing mastic beneath floor tile june 3 1988 pdf 2 pp 63 k letter to c.

History at a glance. No the use of asbestos adhesives in the u s. 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. On concrete floors the flooring should be scraped off with a floor scraper using warm water to loosen the adhesive as you go.

If you break the flooring into pieces while removing it you have effectively turned it into a friable material. Flooring walls ceilings roofs hvac systems plumbing boilers furnaces and machinery in houses businesses public buildings and ships toxicity. Possible signs of asbestos mastic include discoloration and an oily texture. It was also resistant to moisture oil grease heat alkalis and acids.

How to remove asbestos tiles. The moisture will soften the adhesive and help reduce the amount of asbestos released into the air. Resilient sheet flooring containing asbestos was also produced finding wide use as early as 1968. 21 1990 pdf 3 pp 104 k letter to m.

Fancy re removal of asbestos containing floor tile mastic july 13 1990 pdf 1 pg 43 k letter to w. If you decide to remove nonfriable vinyl asbestos flooring you have to be cautious for two reasons.