Asbestos Vinyl Sheet Flooring

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 vinyl sheet flooring.

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. Manufacturers often made this type of flooring with a friable asbestos backing which means asbestos fibres are easily released into the air if the sheet flooring is disturbed or damaged. 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 backed vinyl sheet flooring is where the backing the side attached to the floor see figure 1 contains friable easily broken asbestos material. Asbestos vinyl sheet flooring poses a significantly greater asbestos exposure risk than floor tiles or wallpaper. A majority of the vinyl flooring made before 1986 contained asbestos in the tiles or in the backing materials. This fact sheet provides information regarding asbestos backed vinyl sheet flooring and vinyl tiles containing asbestos.

Vinyl asbestos floor tiles were produced by a number of manufacturers and the decorative tile patterns were varied often annually as styles and tastes changed. Asbestos vinyl sheet flooring has two layers a top layer of vinyl and a bottom layer made from paper that contains asbestos. The removal procedures described in this publication address the removal of asbestos backed sheet vinyl only if. Mixing asbestos into vinyl floor tiles made them more insulating and resistant to damage.

Asbestos vinyl sheet flooring can be more dangerous to remove than tiles if proper precautions are not practiced. It is possible to make a tentative identification of floor tiles based on the individual tile pattern color and thickness. 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. Dry asbestos particles are lighter than air wet ones are less prone to become air borne.

We are told that the paper layer can contain from 40 to 70 percent asbestos. We include research citations on asbestos use in sheet flooring backer materials. Asbestos backed sheet vinyl flooring was commonly installed in many ways including over hardwood softwood and concrete floors. It also was installed over tongue and groove wood floors particleboard and plywood.

Click here to read more.