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Armstrong Floor Tiles & Sheet Identification Photos 1980-1988
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InspectAPedia tolerates no conflicts of interest. We have no relationship with advertisers, products, or services discussed at this website.
Photo guide to asphalt asbestos and vinyl asbestos floor tiles, 1900 -1986: this article provides a guide to identifying asphalt-asbestos flooring (1917 - ca 1960) & vinyl asbestos floor tile (ca 1952 - 1986): identification photographs, product names, styles, colors, and vinyl-asbestos floor patterns, and colors for asbestos-containing floor tile products made between about 1930 and 1986 - flooring materials that are reported to or have been confirmed to contain asbestos in asbestos fiber or asbestos powder-filler form. These flooring products typically contain chrysotile asbestos, and possibly other asbestos forms.
Green links show where you are. © Copyright 2013 InspectAPedia.com, All Rights Reserved. Author Daniel Friedman.
Armstrong Floor Tile Photo Identification Guide 1980 - 1988
How to Find Your Floor Tile or Sheet Flooring in this Flooring Reference Photo Guide

Asphalt asbestos and vinyl-asbestos floor tiles were produced in 9" x 9", 12" x 12", and even 18" x 18" as well as in decorative strips, and in thicknesses of 1/16", 3/32", and 1/8", also in 0.08 gauge. Some sheet flooring or resilient flooring also contained asbestos, as did floor tile mastics.
This photo guide to asphalt asbestos & vinyl asbestos floor tiles for each year shows at least one color photo of each floor tile style or pattern in an example color. A list below each group of photos includes the names of and links to additional photos for other colors of these styles.
Asbestos is safe and legal to remain in homes or public buildings as long as the asbestos
materials are in good condition and the asbestos can not be released into the air.
To identify a particular asphalt-asbestos or vinyl-asbestos floor tile pattern & color, start in the image group most likely to be the same age as your building.
If you don't find your floor tile or sheet flooring by looking forward from that that year, you should also look backwards in the earlier years as your specific flooring pattern & color may have first appeared in an earlier year. For other tile brands than Armstrong, see the brand name floor tile links included in this list.
If you can identify your floor tile collection name or model number, or if you recognize it in the extensive library of flooring color and pattern photographs provided in these pages, laboratory testing of the sample to screen the flooring for asbestos may be unnecessary. Our home page for asbestos-containing floor tiles is at ASBESTOS FLOOR TILE PHOTO ID GUIDE To send us photographs of possible asbestos-containing flooring that you are trying to identify, use the email address found at CONTACT. |
We have split this guide to Armstrong Asphalt Asbestos or Vinyl Asbestos Floor Tiles into the individual year range pages (dates of production) below in order to cut web page load time. If you prefer to see all of the reference photos in a single scrollable file, contact us and we can provide the full list in a single big and slow-loading file.
Many of the colors and patterns of asphalt-asbestos or vinyl-asbestos floor tiles were manufactured over many years and may appear in more than one of the floor tile photo collections listed by date range here.
For each year we list the names of the tile patterns sold during that year, we include representative color images of the floor tiles, and throughout the entire floor tile pattern & color history series we include each floor tile color & pattern of the floor tile in the first year that it appeared , and we include representative colors and patterns in other years.
Examples of floor tile packaging, labeling, and other information can be found throughout the flooring photo collections listed here.
1980 - Armstrong Excelon Vinyl Asbestos Floor Tiles, Patterns & Color Guide
For colors for which a link is not provided below, see the earlier occurrence of that tile color in a previous year.
- Desert Sage Floor Tiles, 12" x 12" x 1/8" thick only in the color shown, above left
- Devonslate
Colors:
- Diana White
Colors:
- Eden Wood Floor Tiles, 12" x 12" x 1/8" thick
Colors:
Walnut, Saddle, White colors
- Feature Floor Tiles, 12" x 12" x 1/8" thick
Colors:
( solid colors - red, green example)
- Imperial series 12" x 12" x 1/8" or 3/32" gauge vinyl asbestos flooring
Colors:
- Imperial Texture 12" x 12" - this "tweedy" design was
Colors:
sold in 17 colors, shown Cottage Tan 51830 (above left)
- Imperial Modern 12" x 12"
Colors:
including Bayberry White 51866, 2nd from left, old in Fleece white, Mellow sand, Char brown (almost black), medium Cork, Bayberry white. also sold in
- Imperial Modern Medium Cork
Colors:
(Medium 51855, 3rd from left above)
- Los Alamos Floor Tiles, 12" x 12" x 1/8" thick
Colors: Green, Yellow, Multi-colors
- Oak Knoll Floor Tiles, 12" x 12" x 1/8" thick
Colors:
Saddle, Walnut, Almond
- Palatial Floor Tiles, 12" x 12" x 1/8"
Colors:
Nice Gold (above right), Alba beige, Cannes beige, Corsica olive
- Regency Square Floor Tiles, 12" x 12" x 1/8" thick, above left
Colors:
Yellow & White
- Salvador
Colors:
- San Roque Floor Tiles, 12" x 12" x 1/8" thick
Colors:
Olive, Gold, Red, White colors
- Slurry Square (above right)
Colors:
Watch out: even if your flooring was installed some time after 1980, it is possible that an installer used 1980 or prior flooring materials that contained asbestos. Handle flooring demolition or grinding, sanding, polishing appropriately.
1982 - Armstrong Self-Adhesive Floor Tiles
Do Peel and Stick Floor Tiles Contain Asbestos?

- Vernay peel and stick floor tiles.
Armstrong Peel-and-Stick Floor vinyl floor tiles were introduced late in 1969, as we discussed at Peel and Stick / Self-Adhesive Floor Tiles
Some, but apparently not all self-adhesive floor tiles made by Armstrong during the period 1969 - 1982 contained asbestos. The company stopped manufacturing these tiles with asbestos in December of 1982.
Not all adhesive floor tiles produced during this period contain asbestos. It is necessary to know the flooring product model number or collection name of a tile in question, or to submit a sample to an asbestos test laboratory to make a final determination. The peel-and-stick Armstrong floor tile shown in our photograph (above left) was from Armstrong's Vernay series, introduced in 1980 and discontinued in 1982. This product never contained asbestos.
- information courtesy of Armstrong Corporation.
American Bilrite Asbestos-Containing Peel and Stick Flooring from the early 1980's
More Reading
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about the brands & types of vinyl & vinyl-asbestos floor tiles & sheet flooring & about the asbestos content of these products
Question: Test Results for Armstrong Sheet Flooring - 70% Asbestos
In one of the asbestos pages of your site ( this page - Ed.), your second photo is of a sheet layment. The text about the photo clarifies that the person who sent the photo was confused about Armstrong and Congoleum.
I wanted to let you know that I have that exact same sheet layment and had it tested. It's 70% asbestos. Thought you may want to let readers know so they can save the cost of testing and just deal with the issue accordingly.
I appreciate your site. Thank you for taking the time to put together all the information. - D.H. 10/11/2012
Reply:
Thank you so much D.H. for the floor covering test result confirming asbestos content in this material. We a welcome critique, questions, or content suggestions for our web articles, and as your feedback illustrates, working together and exchanging information makes us better informed than any individual can be working alone.
Question: How much asbestos hazard was I exposed to during our floor renovation project?
We recently partially demolished a ceramic tile floor in the kitchen of a home built in 1970. We popped the ceramic tiles up with a pry bar and sledge hammer. Beneath the tiles was a linoleum floor covering. I've visually identified the flooring on your website. It is Armstrong, Excelon, Custom Burnham 1972, 57080 Blue. How much asbestos does this contain? Also, we didn't bother peeling it all up because it was too difficult. We chipped up the remaining ceramic tile on top of it and just covered the remainder of the floor with plywood and fastened the plywood with split drive fasteners. We then nailed pine plank flooring over the plywood. Do we have any reason to worry about asbestos exposure??? My husband wore a dust mask. - Kelly McCullin 11/13/2012
I have ArmStrong sheet layment in my kitchen. There was a layer of newer layment on top I did realize it was the original under it. The house was built in 1974. I removed about a there foot area before I realized it. If i was exposed to it how much does it take to make you sick and what are the symptoms. I have to think I am not the only one who has done this. - David 11/28/2012
Reply: it depends ... Here is a list of some risk factors when removing flooring that may contain asbestos
David, and also Kelly McKullin:
Unfortunately no one can say with any accuracy whatsoever just what level of hazard you were exposed to during your asbestos floor removal. The variables include:
- the total amount of material disturbed and removed
- the actual asbestos content of the flooring and of other materials, such as mastic, that were disturbed
- the removal methods used to take up flooring, and just how much dust you created
- nature of demolition dust and debris - particle size, therefore airborne particulate levels & duration of particles in the air. For example, picking up a whole floor tile that is already loose may produce almost no detectable airborne particulates, while running power tools, saws, grinders, sanders, hammers, can make a lot of dust
- dust control measures used during the project
- cleanup methods used after the project both in and out of the work area
- remaining dust that could have led to longer term exposure
- individual health history, respiration rate, personal protective gear used or not
- other site & individual -specific data not listed here
If you have specific individual health questions those should be posed to your doctor who knows your personal health history
Presuming that your project is now long over, if you have reason to be concerned, you might want to do some strategic dust sampling to see whether or not the building needs further cleanup
See ASBESTOS REMOVAL GUIDE, FLOORING and ASBESTOS REMOVAL, Wetting Guidelines
Ask a Question or Search InspectApedia
Questions & answers about how to identify brands & types of vinyl & vinyl-asbestos floor tiles & sheet flooring & about the asbestos content of these products.
Ask a Question or Enter Search Terms in the InspectApedia search box just below.
Technical Reviewers & References
Related Topics, found near the top of this page suggest articles closely related to this one.
- [1] Armstrong ® Residential Flooring - Website 05/15/2010 http://www.armstrong.com/ lists current flooring products provided by the Armstrong Corporation, including Armstrong's current vinyl floor tile products at http://www.armstrong.com/flooring/products/vinyl-floors
- [2] Armstrong Corporation, Corporate History - http://www.armstrong.com/corporate/corporate-history.html - Web Search 05/19/2010
- [3] Armstrong vinyl asbestos floor tiles: photos of asbestos-vinyl floor tiles as catalog pages (PDF form) are at www.asbestosresource.com/asbestos/tile.html
- [4] Accoflex 2005 series semi-flexible vinyl tile Wonder flooring product description; Armstrong's Accoflex is a vinyl composition floor tile. WonderFlooring, Private Bag X02, Fordsburg 2033, Telephone: 011 298 8100, Fax: 011 836 4450, National Call Centere: 0860-29-80-80, Email: info@wonderflooring.com & marketing@wonfloor.com/ [2nd is a defective email address]
Web search 01/29/2011, original source: http://www.wonderflooring.com/accoflex/accoflextech2.pdf
Reference: Armstrong Flooring: Accotile, Accoflex & Coke Tile. Publication 333, Armstrong Flooring.
Note on use of the "Accoflex" name:
In addition to Accoflex flooring produced by Armstrong, Accoflex® is also a U.S. registered trademark used for Insulation Jackets For Industrial Pipes, Tanks and Conduits Including Flexible and Rigid Insulation In the Form of Foamed Synthetic Material Sheeting, owned by Armacell Enterprise Gmbh, Armstrong World Industries, Inc, also distributed in the U.K., Australia, & New Zealand, also in Indonesia. Armacell Australia Pty Ltd, a producer of engineered foams, (http://www.armacell.com/) was founded officially in August 2000 when the then Armstrong Insulation Products (Australia) became a separate legal entity from Armstrong World Industries group.
- [5] "Asbestos in your home or at work," Forsyth County Environmental Affairs Department, Winston-Salem NC
12/08
- [6] "Asbestos Floor Tile Removal", the University of Minnesota's advice on removing VAT (vinyl asbestos or asphalt asbestos floor tile) can be read in detail at www.health.state.mn.us/divs/eh/asbestos/floortile/index.html
- [7] Copy on file as - /hazmat/Asbestos_in_Your_Home_US_EPA.pdf - Asbestos in Your Home - U.S. EPA, Exposure Evaluation Division, Office of Toxic Substances, Office of Pesticides and Toxic Substances, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington,D.C. 20460
- [8] Resilient Floor Covering Institute, 1030 15th St. NW, suite 350, Washington D.C.
- [9] Inspiring Interiors from Armstrong 1950s from Armstrong, [Paperback], Schiffer Publishing (March 1998), ISBN-10: 0764304585, ISBN-13: 978-0764304583 (Available from Amazon)
- [1] Interior Solutions from Armstrong the 1960s from Armstrong, [Paperback], Schiffer Publishing (March 1999), ISBN-10: 0764307002, ISBN-13: 978-0764307003 (Available from Amazon)
- [10] Mechanix Illustrated How-to-do-it Encyclopedia Vol 2. -1961
- [11] Asbestos products and their history and use in various building materials such as asphalt and vinyl flooring includes discussion which draws on Asbestos, Its Industrial Applications, D.V. Rosato, engineering consultant, Newton, MA, Reinhold Publishing, 1959 Library of Congress Catalog Card No.: 59-12535 (out of print).
- [12] Congoleum Corporation, "Company History", Congoleum Corporation, Department C, P.O. Box 3127, Mercerville, NJ 08619-0127 1-609-584-3601, web-search 03/14/2011, original source: http://www.congoleum.com/history.html
- [13] David Grudzinski,
Advantage Home Inspections,
is a professional home inspector in Cranston, RI. 02910. He can be reached at 401-935-6547,
fax- 401-490-0607 or by email to contact/us@advantagehomeinspections.us 04/26/2009
- [14] EPA Guidance for Controlling Asbestos-Containing Materials in buildings, NIAST, National Institute on Abatement Sciences & Technology, [republishing EPA public documents] 1985 ed., Exposure Evaluation Division, Office of Toxic Substances, Office of Pesticides and Toxic Substances, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington,D.C. 20460
- [15] EPA Asbestos Materials Bans: Clarification 1999
- [16] EVER WEAR TILE CO is currently (2009) in the Terrazzo, Tile, Marble, and Mosaic Work industry in Fallon, NV. 775) 423-6221. [We do not know the company history nor whether there is an association with EverWear vinyl asbestos floor tiles discussed in this article.]
- [17] Kentile KenFlex flooring photographs: Flickr web search 5/15/2010 - see original material and other asbestos product photos
- [18] "Plastic Flooring Spreads Through the House", Jackson Hand, Guide to Home-Improvement Materials, Popular Science, April 1969, p. 154-158
- [19] Thomas Hauswirth, Managing Member of Beacon Fine Home Inspections, LLC and (in 2007) Vice President, Connecticut Association of Home Inspectors
Ph. 860-526-3355 Fax 860-526-2942 beaconinspections@sbcglobal.net 06/07: thanks for photographs of transite asbestos heating ducts
- [20] Gary Randolph, Ounce of Prevention Home Inspection, LLC Buffalo, NY, for attentive reading and editing suggestions. Mr. Randolph can be reached in Buffalo, NY, at (716) 636-3865
or email: gary@ouncehome.com
3/07
- [21] Thanks to reader Matt Abel, Design Services Department, Strongwood Log Home Company,
711 Shadow Road, Waupaca WI 54981, Office (715) 258-4818, Toll Free (866) 258-4818, www.gostrongwood.com
"Begin your journey home.." for vinyl asbestos floor photos, October 2010.
- [22] Thanks to reader Meryl Silvers for hexagonal floor tile photos showing a possible Kentile product that contained asbestos. October 2010.
- [23] Thanks to reader N.H. for providing a photo of 1970's era vinyl asbestos floor tile that we identify as most likely Armstrong Solarian Devonport white.
- [24] M.B. provided photographs of Congoleum linoleum flooring from a 1960's Tampa Florida home.
- [25] L.R. provided photographs of Armstrong Palimino Beige and Pecan Beige asphalt asbestos floor tiles, floor tile packaging and identification details, along with asbestos test lab results. Personal correspondence with DF, 10/22/2012
- [26] Window Putty - OSHA case cites contractor for asbestos exposure during removal of window putty http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=NEWS_RELEASES&p_id=1091 June 1997 -
- Asbestos Identification and Testing References
- [27] Asbestos Identification, Walter C.McCrone, McCrone Research Institute, Chicago, IL.1987 ISBN 0-904962-11-3. Dr. McCrone literally "wrote the book" on asbestos identification procedures which formed
the basis for current work by asbestos identification laboratories.
- [28] Stanton, .F., et al., National Bureau of Standards Special Publication 506: 143-151
- [20] Pott, F., Staub-Reinhalf Luft 38, 486-490 (1978) cited by McCrone
- [30] Asbestos in Your Home U.S. EPA, Exposure Evaluation Division, Office of Toxic Substances, Office of Pesticides and Toxic Substances, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington,D.C. 20460
- Asbestos products and their history and use in various building materials such as asphalt and vinyl flooring includes discussion which draws on Asbestos, Its Industrial Applications, D.V. Rosato, engineering consultant, Newton, MA, Reinhold Publishing, 1959 Library of Congress Catalog Card No.: 59-12535 (out of print, text and images available at InspectAPedia.com).
- [31] "Handling Asbestos-Containing roofing material - an update", Carl Good, NRCA Associate Executive Director, Professional Roofing, February 1992, p. 38-43
- [32] EPA Guidance for Controlling Asbestos-Containing Materials in buildings, NIAST, National Institute on Abatement Sciences & Technology, [republishing EPA public documents] 1985 ed., Exposure Evaluation Division, Office of Toxic Substances, Office of Pesticides and Toxic Substances, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington,D.C. 20460
- ...
Books & Articles on Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, & Repair
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