Testing Asbestos Floor Tiles

Identifying asbestos floor tiles.

Testing asbestos floor tiles. Asbestos exposure may pose serious health risks. If floor tiles are more than 30 years old it s likely you ll want to replace them. Lab testing of flooring for asbestos content. But the flooring companies aim wasn t so much to make the floor tiles fireproof as it was to make the tiles more durable.

You can also have a flooring sample tested for asbestos using one of the certified asbestos testing labs in this asbestos testing lab list. 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. Unlike many asbestos containing materials vinyl asbestos flooring is generally safe to be around. Vinyl is a type of plastic that has long been a popular material for floor tiles and sheets.

If you have time and about 40. If you face a costly dusty messy demolition it may be appropriate to have a sample of the flooring tested. Asbestos is a mineral that lends fireproofing qualities to any substance it is mixed with. What are asbestos floor tiles.

But that changes as soon as you decide to remove it. However asbestos testing is essential before you rip them up. They are not particularly high risk unless damaged resulting in the release of the asbestos fibres. The definitive way to find out if tiles contain asbestos is to have them tested.

Found in many manufactured products prior to the mid 1980 such as pipe insulation ceiling and floor tiles paints caulking fire resistant clothing and brake pads. For about 35 years flooring companies included asbestos when they manufactured the vinyl tiles.