Asbestos Floor Tiles: How to tell if your old house flooring may contain asbestos

Walk through of 1950 apartment demo, identification of potential and proven asbestos items requiring professional remediation.

[newcomer]

Excellent video. Very informative, very clear. You two coverd a lot of ground very clear short and sweet without speeding through it.. Excellent ! Thank you very much.

[jamesc]

Thats cool I was working in a old building drilling holes in these tiles for

[michaelking]

Wow finding those samples was super cool!

[pilot_doggo]

Me: *laughs nervously knowing damn well I have asbestos in my house*

[livepassionately]

People are out here trying to do the right thing, but removing asbestos professionally is expensive.

[allysally]

Ahh great so these are the tiles I've been digging up out of my garden and violently breaking with a shovel and standing in the dust cloud it created ☠

[paulcoyle]

The black adhesive is a tar petroleum base adhesive.

Over decades it dries out and loses its adhesive properties.

A heat gun, a plumbers torch, or a propane weed gun will heat the tile and soften the glue.

I prefer the 20 gallon weed burning torch. One person on torch, another with a long handle flat shovel, like you would use to cut grass. I ve even used a large putty knife, sheet rock mud knife screwed to a broom handle. This way you both stand up.

Get piles of grocery boxes, and kitchen bags.
Open bags in the boxes, place tiles in bags. Sinch close. Boxes can get heavy before they fill up. Place in dumpster.

[jonathancowdin]

This has such a huge stigma on it, i am a flooring installer and before anyone knew it was a problem all the old dogs i know were tearing out and banging away on this stuff like crazy, they are all fine today and the ones that have died didn't from meso, im not taking away that its bad but its not radioactive either, one singular event with you around it wont kill you

[Clint_the_Audio-Photo_Guy]

I've got 12x12 tiles in my basement, but I heard a lot of them can be asbestos too. There is black mastic under them but they peel up easily now. House was built in 1957, but I have no idea when the basement tile was done.

[CRBAnalyseServiceGmbH]

Dear Vaguely Victorian,
Thank you for this video and provides comprehensive tips on safety precautions and possible uses of asbestos. Sampling is also clearly demonstrated here. Nonetheless please always observe the safety and procedural guidelines for handling asbestos that apply in your country.
Please submit a small material sample before starting your work in order to have a professional asbestos analysis carried out. If an analysis reveals asbestos in your property, then only commission specialists with the necessary certificate of competence to remove it, as otherwise asbestos fibers can pollute room and apartment air and bind stubbornly and permanently to clothing and other materials.
Stay healthy!

[NotSoCrazyNinja]

When it comes to a lot of kinds of asbestos-containing material, it's best to just leave it alone. In the case of the tiles here, I would have left them alone and covered them with another flooring material. If it is asbestos tiles, it's not like it's going to disintegrate. Now, that pipe insulation, yeah, that stuff I would keep clear of and have it professionally removed.

[kcwyo]

They did use black fabric under some flooring and that is probably why it came back negative for asbestos because it's probably isn't glue.

[floorsuncoveredbyfloortoce]

Many homes before the 1980's had asbestos used in the flooring, if you find 9x9 vinyl tiles like in this video and want them removed, having it professionally removed by an asbestos abatement company is the best route to go. If you don't want or need to remove it, then encapsulating it is a very good solution, and your flooring installer shouldn't have trouble just laying many different kinds of flooring over it.

[wanttruth]

You have made up my mind for me. Would it be safe to put down apply another layer of glue or fastener and tile? Then the mastic won't be disturbed. Thanks so much. Awaiting an answer.

[willsmudder]

Would you kindly provide the company where you sent your tile and mastic samples to be tested? (Or, recommend what we search?)

[macsasota]

can i have the link of the asbestos test kit please? thank you!

[lontzk]

How do you safely remove samples without causing danger? I have some in a home im living in.

[tortoisemech]

So, basically, if in old house and its 9 by 9 tile, its abestos. If not, then you probably good?

[Stepjack]

live in the projects, that where build on 1946. I move in 2009, so I don't know when was the last time floor tiles were change. Well my kitchen flooded in water, and 2 vinyl squares came off, and underneath the cement was stain in black. Can that be abestos? The tiles measure 12 ×12. So when they came off, i put glue.

[FancyNancy]

Thank you for making this video! I'm renting a room with these tiles and when I scrub them to clean thete is a chemical smell or something that is horrible..