Asbestos Linoleum Sheet Flooring

If you are removing the original vinyl floor from a home prior to 1980 you will need to locate a licensed asbestos abatement contractor to test your floor.

Asbestos linoleum sheet flooring.

Dry asbestos particles are lighter than air wet ones are less prone to become air borne. 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. Unfortunately vinyl sheet flooring manufactured with an asbestos backing poses a serious exposure risk when it is disturbed. Asbestos vinyl flooring was a durable and economical material that offered many aesthetic options to suit a homeowner s taste.

Asbestos vinyl sheet flooring has two layers a top layer of vinyl and a bottom layer made from paper that contains asbestos. Asbestos was used in vinyl wallpaper from the 1920s and in the vinyl floor tiles and sheet flooring that rose to prominence in the 1950s. Removing old vinyl flooring techniques. Southwest clean air agency recommends you use a certified asbestos abatement.

As with any asbestos containing material acm the first step to finding asbestos in linoleum sheet flooring and vinyl tiles is. Like floor tiles vinyl sheet flooring is a long lasting and economical material and it also offers more aesthetic options to suit a homeowner s taste. 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. We are told.

If in performing the above test you discover your asbestos backed sheet vinyl flooring is tightly glued to any thing other than particleboard or plywood there may be no safe way for you to remove it. 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. Asbestos removal is a hazardous process best undertaken only by a qualified professional. Flooring attached and disposing of the removed sections.

A majority of the vinyl. Asbestos vinyl sheet flooring can be more dangerous to remove than tiles if proper precautions are not practiced. Click here to read more.