This article describes sheet flooring products known to contain significant levels of asbestos.
Identifying asbestos vinyl flooring.
Between the 1920s and 1960s asbestos was a popular material used in floor tiles.
Asbestos is a mineral that lends fireproofing qualities to any substance it is mixed with.
However you re not completely in the clear because asbestos was a common ingredient in the mastic used to hold these flooring materials to the subfloor.
Asbestos flooring was made into the 1980s though its heyday was the 1920s through the 1960s.
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.
Our photo left shows armstrong excelon 12x12 vinyl asbestos flooring made in 1972 identified in our floor tile photo guide asbestos floor tile identification photos 1949 1959 detailed photo guide to asphalt asbestos and vinyl asbestos floor tiles and resilient flooring produced in 1900 1980.
We describe sources of asbestos in older forms of sheet flooring including felt backed flooring rubber backed flooring and vinyl cushion backed resilient flooring products.
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.
Gather information about the age of the tiles.
I don t recognize that exact flooring pattern jack and am guessing it s an early 1980s vinyl sheet flooring.
Vinyl or asphalt tiles that have these colors in it have a high likelihood of asbestos fibers.
Vinyl floor tiles or sheet flooring were made or installed before 1986 should be treated as a floor covering presumed to contain asbestos or else have a sample tested and report the results here please.
Asbestos containing sheet flooring or resilient flooring product identification.
What are asbestos floor tiles.
If you know when the building was built or renovated this might help you estimate when the tiles were installed.
In floor tiles asbestos is used primarily for its insulation properties and its ability to resist fire.
In addition to the tiles themselves a layer of mastic a type of adhesive below the tiles is also likely to contain asbestos.
While asbestos is useful as a binding agent in the manufacture of vinyl and rubber floor coverings it isn t needed to make linoleum tiles or sheet flooring.
With that in mind here are the keys to identifying asbestos floor tiles.
For about 35 years flooring companies included asbestos when they manufactured the vinyl tiles.
Asbestos tiles can be difficult to identify because you can t see the asbestos in the tile.
Keep in mind that the mastic used as an adhesive for these older tiles might also contain some asbestos.
Asbestos in floor tiles.
Vinyl tiles with asbestos are all 12 12 or 9 9 tiles with asbestos.
