Identifying Asbestos Floor Tiles

Identifying asbestos floor tiles.

Identifying asbestos floor tiles.

Asbestos tiles can be difficult to identify because you can t see the asbestos in the tile. Asbestos flooring was made into the 1980s though its heyday was the 1920s through the 1960s. T he flooring during this period was usually made in 9 inch squares and is quite a bit thicker than most of the modern vinyl tiles. If you know when the building was built or renovated this might help you estimate when the tiles were installed.

Gather information about the age of the tiles. Between the 1920s and 1960s asbestos was a popular material used in floor tiles. Because asbestos was widely used before 1980 if you have flooring tiles that were installed before then you need to test a piece of the flooring to make sure it s safe. You can either engage an asbestos remediation expert or obtain a test kit for.

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. The definitive way to find out if tiles contain asbestos is to have them tested. Vinyl or asphalt tiles that have these colors in it have a high likelihood of asbestos fibers.