Floor Tiles & Sheet Flooring ID Photos 1970-1973

Asbestos Floor Tile Pattern & Color Guide early 1970s

Examples of Sheet Flooring & Linoleum in the 1970's

Below: Armstrong's Perimafloor system described in a 1970 magazine advertisement (top) and Armstrong Corlon sheet flooring (bottom).

As a faster way to install a new layer of flooring the company recommended sanding a 6" to 8" strip around the perimeter of the existing floor as well as in the location where any seams will occur in the new sheet flooring installation.

Then a 4-inch band of Armstrong S-200 or S-205 adhesive woud be applied to secure a new layer of Amstrong Corlon sheet flooring such as showin in the bottom photo in this ad.

Watch out: those Armstrong instructions would have the installer sanding what may be asbestos-containing floor tiles - today this would be an improper and unsafe procedure.

1970 GAF Sure-Stik Floor Tiles

Above, an excerpt showing green self-adhesive floor tiles, the GAF Sure-Stik product from a 1970 magazine advertisement shown in full just below.

1970 - Armstrong Excelon Vinyl Asbestos Floor Tiles, Patterns & Color Guide, 9x9 & 12x12-inch

For colors for which a link is not provided below, see the earlier occurrence of that tile color in a previous year.

CUSTOM SAN MIGUEL 12x12x1/16"vinyl asbestos floor tile images from 1970 (shown at left)

CUSTOM TENOLLA 12x12x1/16" vinyl asbestos floor tiles produced in 1970

For a quick check and five easy questions that can help tell you if an unknown floor covering contains asbestos, try

DOES THIS FLOORING CONTAIN ASBESTOS?

• Embossed (9 x 9 & 12" x 12" floor tiles) (See 1965-1966 styles of embossed floor tiles)
• Standard (9 x 9 & 12" x 12" floor tiles)
• Montreal ( 12" x 12" only)
• Presidential ( 12" x 12" only)
• Travertine ( 12" x 12" only)
• Feature Floor Tiles ( 12" x 12" only)
• Travertex ( 12" x 12" only)
• Imperial Texture ( 12" x 12" only)
• Imperial ( 12" x 12" only)
• Imperial Modern ( 12" x 12" only)

• Armstrong Hydrocord was a jute-like backing found on some Armstrong vinyl-asbestos floor tiles in 1970 - example above is excerpted from the company's 1970 catalog.
• Armstrong Solarian No-Wax flooring was introduced (we think) in 1970 - see those details
  
  at ARMSTRONG SOLARIAN NO-WAX FLOORING HISTORY

1971 - Armstrong Excelon Vinyl Asbestos Floor Tiles, Patterns & Color Guide, 9x9 & 12x12-inch

For colors for which a link is not provided below, see the earlier occurrence of that tile color in a previous year.

MONTREL 12" x 12"x 1/8" thick (Cafe white) floor tile images from 1971

PRESIDENTIAL 12" x 12" x 1/8" (Montpelier beige)

FEATURE STRIPS (shown at left, assembled, these permitted modern Mondrian like designs by assembly) 24" x 1", 24" x 2", 24" x 3", accent strips

Feature tiles (solid colors) 12" x 12" x 1/8"

TRAVERTEX 12" x 12" (Tan) - this was a popular and widely-installed pattern

TRAVERTINE Swirl 12" x 12" x 3/32" (Ivory)

IMPERIAL TEXTURE 12" x 12" (Cottage tan)

IMPERIAL 12" x 12" floor tiles

Also these patterns:

• Imperial Modern 12" x 12" x 1/8" or 3/32" (see 1972 photos)
• Standard (9" x 9")
• Craftlon Collection (9 x 9 & 12" x 12") STOCKBRIDGE (dark brown) also in Devonshire inset and brick patterns (see 1974 photos)
• Custom 12" x 12" DECORESQUE12 " x 12" x 1/16"
• Embossed 12" x 12"
• Smooth Surface (9 x 9 & 12" x 12")
• Embossed TAVARRA(White) (Also see 1965-1966 styles of embossed floor tiles)
• Embossed TOPIARY12 " x 12" x 1/16" (Orange)
• Embossed TORTISE SHELL 12" x 12" x 1/16" (Rattler gold)

1972 - Armstrong Excelon Vinyl Asbestos Floor Tiles, Patterns & Color Guide, 9x9 & 12x12-inch

For colors for which a link is not provided below, see the earlier occurrence of that tile color in a previous year.

IMPERIAL MODERN 12" x 12" x 1/8" or 3/32" shown above in FLEECE WHITE 51850 (See more colors at our 1973 list)

• Imperial Modern 12" x 12" x 1/8" or 3/32"
• ADDITIONAL COLORS
• Imperial Texture 12" x 12" x 1/8" (see 1971/ 1973 photos)
• Imperial 12" x 12" x 1/8"

Excelon Embossed: CUSTOM BISQUE 12" x 12" x 1/16" shown above: NEW

notice the larger scale in this 1972 pattern than the similar but smaller-scale pattern produced in 1973 and later.

Here is a reader-contributed photo of flooring resembling

the CUSTOM BISQUE BEIGE 57092 vinyl asbestos flooring as installed in a Massachusetts home.

More examples of this pattern are at

HEXAGON & OCTAGON FLOORING PATTERN ID

Above we include a CLOSEUP PHOTO of an individual vinyl-asbestos floor tile of this design.

• Feature 12" x 12" (solid colors & feature strips - see prior years above)
• Presidential 12" x 12"
• Classic Travertine 12" x 12"
• Standard 12" x 12"
• Travertex 12" x 12"

CRAFTLON DEVONPORT (9 x 9 & 12" x 12x 3/32" - above)

CRAFTLON VERDANZA (Green - above) Armstrong flooring

CUSTOM BURNHAM 12" x 12" x 1/16" (shown above, a composite design) floor tile images from 1972 - shown above), sold both as Embossed 12" x 12" and Smooth Surface 12" x 12"

1973 - Armstrong Excelon Vinyl Asbestos Floor Tiles, Complete Pattern & Color Guide, 9x9 & 12x12-inch

For colors for which a link is not provided below, see the earlier occurrence of that tile color in a previous year.

Floor tiles shown above correspond left to right to the patterns named below where we also include links to additional colors for each style or pattern.

IMPERIAL MODERN 12" x 12" x 1/8" & 3/32" gauge vinyl asbestos floor tiles (above) produced by Armstrong Flooring

in FLEECE WHITE 51850,

MELLOW SAND 51851 (shown above), and

in SMOKE BEIGE 51852,

CHAR BROWN 51854,

MEDIUM CORK 51855,

BAYBERRY WHITE 51856,

OLIVE 51857,

SANDRIFT WHIT 51858,

LIGHT UMBER 51860,

and POWDER GRAY 51861

IMPERIAL TEXTURE floor tile pattern above in 12" x 12"x 1/8"

as COTTAGE TAN 51830,

TOWER GOLD 51831,

TEMPLE ORANGE 51833,

CABANA OLIVE 51857 (shown above) ,

and SHELTER WHITE 51836,

PALACE BEIGE 51837,

MANSION GOLD 51838,

FORTRESS WHITE 51839,

TENT OLIVE 51840, and

in CASTEL GRIEGE 51841

TRAVERTEX floor tile pattern sized 12" x 12" x 1/8"

BRIAR TAN 51130 (shown above),

FROST WHITE 51131,

CREAM WHITE 51133,

MIST WHITE 51135,

HARVEST IVORY 51137,

NOUGAT BEIGE 51138

EXCELON STANDARD floor tile patterns (shown above) size 12" x 12" x 1/8"

BAYBERRY BEIGE 56721 (shown just above) - for a full color list of Armstrong Excelon "Standard" tiles see

our COMPLETE COLOR SERIES FOR BOTH VINYL-ASBESTOS AND ASPHALT STANDARD TILE PATTERNS FOR 1973

PRESIDENTIAL pattern 12" x 12" x 1/8" floor tile patterns like the one shown above were sold by Armstrong in these colors:

PRESIDENTIAL MONTPELIER BEIGE 51950 as shown above

also sold in PRESIDENTIAL WHEATLAND WHITE 51951,

PRESIDENTIAL MONTICELLO GOLD 51952,

and in PRESIDENTIAL MT VERNON TAUPE 51953,

PRESIDENTIAL SAGAMORE GREEN 51954, also see 1974

CRAFTLON DEVNOSHIRE INSET 12" x 12" x 3/32 flooring by Armstrong was sold

in CRAFTLON DEVNOSHIRE INSET BROWN 54451,

GOLD54452, CRAFTLON DEVNOSHIRE INSET WHITE 54453,

RED 54454)

Floor tiles shown above correspond left to right to the patterns named below where we also include links to additional colors for each style or pattern.

CLASSIC TRAVERTINE12" x 12" X 1/8" floor tiles in six colors shown

WHITE 51880,

TRAVERTINE BEIGE 51881,

TRAVERTINE TAN 51882,

GRAY 51883,

MINT GREEN 51884, and

TRAVERTINE OLIVE 51885

Also see two embossed versions of the

Travertine floor tile identification pattern

TRAVERTINE EMBOSSED 12" x 12" x 1/16" or 3/32" thick floor tiles (shown above) from 1973, are similar to Classic Travertine but sport an embossed surface, Colors:

Vetralla 54221 3/32" only, and PONZANO TRAVERTINE EMBOSSED 54222

FEATURE SOLID COLOR floor tiles & accent strips 12" x 12" x 1/8" solid color floor tiles and 1" x 24" solid color vinyl-asbestos flooring accent strips in the colors shown just below.

These tiles were intended for accent spots, not for tiling an entire floor, because the solid color flooring would show scratches.

CRAFTLON / ADELPHI II 12" x 12" x 3/32" vinyl asbestos floor tile images shown above, for 1973

(OLIVE 54430,

AALST 54431,

BEIGE 54432 shown above,

BAAL 54433,

GOLD 54434

Craftlon RANCHO GRNAD 12" x 12" x 3/32" vinyl asbestos floor tile images - 1973

WHITE 54490,

GOLD 54491,

GREEN 54492,

TERRA COTTA 54493, &

BEIGE 54494 above

Embossed Craftlon STONEFILD 12" x 12" x 3/32" by Armstrong,

Colors:

SLATE 54770,

OLIVE 54771,

WHITE 54472 above,

RED 54773) [Compare with Shattered Stone pattern below & with Metric Chip 1968]

EMBOSSED CRAFTLON BRISTOL SLATE 12" x 12" x 3/32" shown in Gold 54560 above, also sold

in TERRA COTTA 54561,

OLIVE54562,

SLATE 45463) embossed floor tile surface, no pattern but surface texture looks like slate.

Embossed Craftlon DEVONPORT Armstrong flooring sized 12" x 12" x 3/32"

Colors:

BROWN 534461,

GOLD 54462 above,

WHITE 54463,

RED 54464

EXCELON IMPERIAL pattern Armstrong floor tiles 12" x 12" x 1/8"

here TERRACE WHITE 56880 (above) were produced ONLY in this shade in 1973.

CUSTOM GLENMORE BRICK shown above, 12" x 12" x 1/16"

RED 57130,

WHITE 57131 as shown above,

GOLD 57132

CUSTOM OLD FORGE 12" x 12" x 1/16"

in WHITE 57061 shown above,

and TERRA COTTA 57062

CUSTOM EDEN WOOD 12" x 12" x 1/16"

in WALNUT 57140,

SADDLE 57141,

WHITE 57142, shown above

(Above) CUSTOM SAN PEDRO SAN PEDRO 12" x 12" x 1/16" Armstrong floor tiles sold in these colors

BLUE WHITE 57070 shown above,

OLIVE 57071,

GOLD 57072,

ORANGE 57073,

GOLD WHITE 57074,

RED 57075

Above: this floor is probably Custom San Pedro but is also similar to Armstrong Craftlon Verdanza above on this page.

This floor installation is in a home built in 1947, photo courtesy of an Inspectapedia.com reader 2021/03/27.

CUSTOM BISQUE 12" x 12" x 1/16"

WHITE 57090 shown above,

RUST 57091,

BEIGE 57092,

BROWN 57093,

BRONZE 57094,

OLIVE 57095

Compare this new smaller scale pattern with the larger-scale version produced ONLY in 1972 (above).

CUSTOM BURNHAM 12" x 12" x 1/16"

BLUE 57080 shown above,

CUSTOM BURNHAM OLIVE 57081,

GOLD 57082,

TAN 57083

BROWN 57084

- all of these color shades are quite similar

CUSTOM GEODESSY 12" x 12" x 1/16" floor tile, shown above, also sold

in TERRA COTTA CUSTOM GEODESSY 57120,

WHITE 57121,

SLATE 57122,

OLIVE 57123,

GOLD 57124, as shown above

CUSTOM DIANNA WHITE OLYMPUS 12" x 12" x 1/16" Smooth Surface 51200

CUSTOM DIANNA WHITE CALIGULA 12" x 12" x 1/16" Embossed 51202

CUSTOM DIANNA WHITE TRAJAN pattern Armstrong floor tiles sized 12" x 12" x 1/16" 51203

CRAFTLON ROMFORD BRICK 9" x 9" x 3/32" vinyl asbestos floor tiles sold in

WHITE 57020,

RED 57021, as shown above

EXCELON POLISHED MARBLE, embossed 12" x 12" x 1/16" floor tiles in three colors:

STATUARY WHITE 54190,

PERUVIAN BEIGE 54192 above

EXCELON POLISHED MARBLE embossed floor pattern 12" x 12" x 1/16" floor tiles same series as above,

but this tile pattern looks a bit different MEADOW WHITE 54193 above.

EXCELON CHANDELLE EMBOSSSED 12" x 12" x 1/16"in six colors:

BLUE OLIVE CHANDELLE 54520 above,

OLIVE 54521 [compare with the lighter version from 1974, below],

WHITE CHANDELLE 54522,

GOLD 54523,

PINK CHANDELLE Orange 54524,

MULTI-WHITE 54525

EXCELON SHATTERED STONE EMBOSSED 12 x 12 x 1/16" sold

as BEIGE 51170,

MULTI-WHITE 51171,

GOLD 51172 above

and WHITE EXCELON SHATTERED STONE EMBOSSED 51173

The vinyl asbestos floor tiles below are smooth-surfaced, not embossed:

SMOOTH SURFACE PALATIAL 12" x 12" x 1/16" flooring sold in several colors:

NICE GOLD 51601 above

ALBA BEIGE 51602,

CANNES BEIGE 51603,

CORSICA OLIVE 51607

SMOOTH SURFACE DRIFTSTONE 12" x 12" x 1/16"

sold in AZTEC WHITE 51161 ONLY

SMOOTH SURFACE TIDESTONE 12" x 12" x 1/16"

GREEN 51756 above

DAYTONA TAUPE 51760,

ACAPULCO WHITE 51762,

MALIBU BEIGE 51764) also see 1974 photos of this flooring.

Research: Asbestos containing Flooring Early 1970s

• [1] Armstrong ® Residential Flooring - Website 05/15/2010 https://www.armstrongflooring.com/ lists current flooring products provided by the Armstrong Corporation, including Armstrong's current vinyl floor tile products at https://www.armstrongflooring.com/flooring/products/vinyl-floors
• [2] Armstrong Corporation, Corporate History - https://www.armstrongflooring.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 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] 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
• [1] Interior Solutions from Armstrong the 1960s from Armstrong, [Paperback], Schiffer Publishing (March 1999), ISBN-10: 0764307002, ISBN-13: 978-0764307003
• [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, ROSATO 1959, 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
• [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 BAN: 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
• [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, ROSATO 1959, 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