Vinyl Flooring Asbestos Identification

What are asbestos floor tiles.

Vinyl flooring asbestos identification.

Between the 1920s and 1960s asbestos was a popular material used in floor tiles. But the flooring companies aim wasn t so much to make the floor tiles fireproof as it was to make the tiles more durable. Asbestos is a mineral that lends fireproofing qualities to any substance it is mixed with. 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.

Asbestos tiles can be difficult to identify because you can t see the asbestos in the tile. It is possible to make a tentative identification of floor tiles based on the individual tile pattern color and thickness. 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. For identification guides to all brands of asphalt asbestos vinyl asbestos and similar flooring products.

Vinyl or asphalt tiles that have these colors in it have a high likelihood of asbestos fibers. For about 35 years flooring companies included asbestos when they manufactured the vinyl tiles. 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. This article describes sheet flooring products known to contain significant levels of asbestos.