Asbestos Felt Flooring

Asbestos was phased out of production in the 1980s.

Asbestos felt flooring.

We are told. Asbestos vinyl sheet flooring can be more dangerous to remove than tiles if proper precautions are not practiced. That means it is safe to walk on but not safe to scrape sand or use power tools on. However old asbestos felt remains in the floors and roofs of millions of american buildings constructed between 1900 and 1980.

If you face a costly dusty messy demolition it may be appropriate to have a sample of the flooring tested. Asbestos floor tiles will not release toxic fibers and pose a health risk unless they are disturbed. You can also have a flooring sample tested for asbestos using one of the certified asbestos testing labs in this asbestos testing lab list. Asbestos vinyl sheet flooring has two layers a top layer of vinyl and a bottom layer made from paper that contains asbestos.

But other asphalt impregnated felt products and floor backers did contain asbestos so unless you have had a lab test performed it would be prudent to assume that the material contains asbestos. Originally used for its fire resistance and ability to strengthen the cloth asbestos once made up 15 percent of the material. Asbestos flooring felt is one of the few asbestos products completely banned in the u s and regulations now require other products to contain less than one percent asbestos. But when vinyl asbestos flooring is in good condition it is considered nonfriable.

No longer used in the manufacture of roofing felt asbestos can still be found in old pre 1990 rolls of the material. You could also seal it with a coat of epoxy floor paint. If you have time and about 40. Older flooring felt may contain asbestos making its removal critical.

Lab testing of flooring for asbestos content. 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. While some felt was laid with only carpet nails or staples much was glued to the floor to prevent slippage making its. 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.

This article describes sheet flooring products known to contain significant levels of asbestos. Asbestos containing sheet flooring or resilient flooring product identification. In many cases the best thing to do about vinyl asbestos flooring is put a new layer of flooring on top of it.