Is There Asbestos In Vinyl Flooring

Asbestos is a mineral that lends fireproofing qualities to any substance it is mixed with.

Is there asbestos in vinyl flooring.

Even ceramic slate and stone tiles can be installed on. The wondrous new no wax flooring sold by companies such as congoleum put a glossy sheen on post war american prosperity. New vinyl laminate flooring hardwood engineered floating flooring and carpeting can all be successfully installed over asbestos tiles. Vinyl flooring with asbestos may also have adhesives that contain asbestos as well.

The vinyl acts as a binder that holds the asbestos fibres within a solid matrix. For about 35 years flooring companies included asbestos when they manufactured the vinyl tiles. Asphalt based asbestos floor tiles and later plastic or vinyl based asbestos flooring were popular in the u s. If the material is in good condition it normally does not pose a threat because the asbestos is enclosed in vinyl preventing the fibres from escaping.

But the flooring companies aim wasn t so much to make the floor tiles fireproof as it was to make the tiles more durable. Asbestos has been used in vinyl wallpaper since the 1920s and vinyl floor tiles and sheet flooring rose to prominence in the 1950s. Some asbestos containing flooring products were manufactured we estimate as early as the late 1920 s. Unfortunately vinyl tiles and sheet flooring that contain asbestos pose a potential exposure risk.

In the 1940 s 1970 s and were produced by some manufacturers armstrong as late as 1980. Professionals follow the same procedures for removing flooring that contains asbestos when removing adhesive. Asbestos is fibrous meaning it can be pulled apart into a soft woolly consistency.