Q&A on identification of asbestos-containing floor tiles - set #4

Additional FAQs to help identify floor tiles that are likely to contain asbestos.

This article series assists building buyers, owners or inspectors who need to identify asbestos materials (or probable-asbestos) in buildings by visual inspection.

We also provide a MASTER INDEXto this topic, or you can try the page top or bottom SEARCH BOXas a quick way to find information you need.

How to Identify Asbestos Floor Tiles - FAQs set #4

These questions and replies on how to recognize asbestos-containing flooring were posted originally

at ASBESTOS FLOORING IDENTIFICATION

Be sure to review the 5 questions we pose there and whose answers can help you make a reasonable guess at whether or not a particular floor tile or sheet flooring contains asbestos.

Also see ASBESTOS FLOOR TILE PHOTO ID REQUESTS for more photographs submitted for identification as asbestos-containing flooring - or not.

If your flooring is a continuous sheet product, see ASBESTOS SHEET FLOORING ID FAQs

[Click to enlarge any image]

On 2018-08-28 by (mod) - asphalt-asbestos floor tiles

Very likely yes, Pablo. The tiles in your photo of marbled black and tan material looks like cut asphalt asbestos flooring using three cut tile dimensions.

It would be helpful if you could confirm the age of the building where this floor is installed. I suspect the floor is from the 1950s or 1960s.

It would also be helpful to know the dimensions of the three tile cut sizes.

On 2018-08-28 by Pablo

Could this floor be asbestos?

On 2018-08-28 by (mod) - glue down a few loose floor tiles; decode serial number on floor tiles?

DJ:

You can use any modern tile adhesive mastic to re-attach an intact but loose floor tile.

Damp wipe and clean any loose debris from the floor and the tile back.

When the tile is dry, apply the mastic to the floor, press the tile in place, and weight it flat until the mastic has set - usually 24 hours is enough.

Watch out, however: if the floor tiles are loose because of a water entry problem in the building, more are likely to fail; in that case it's critical to find and fix the water entry source.

 

Matt, in the 5 easy steps given in ASBESTOS FLOORING IDENTIFICATIONwe suggest several ways you can make an intelligent guess at whether or not floor tiles contain asbestos.

Usually a serial number isn't enough: you'd need to know the manufacturer's brand and probably the floor tile pattern name as well. Serial numbers do, however, often decode to include a manufacture date that can be helpful.

On 2018-08-25 by Dj

Have old condo with 9” tiles from 50’s all in pretty good shape and want to cover, paint or redue, however I want to know how to reattach just a few tiles that lifted from the floor base that did not crack or break. No damage to any of the tiles. Just want to make sure the edges remain flat and don’t lift.

On 2018-08-15 by Matt

I can't find the serial # data mentioned in the article. I have a stack of unused tiles that each have a serial #. How can I check?

On 2018-08-10 by (mod) - for flooring of unknown age, to guess about its asbestos content see these 5 easy steps

Sorry Anon, I can't say. Did you review the 5 easy steps given

in ASBESTOS FLOORING IDENTIFICATION

On 2018-08-10 by Anonymous - Could this floor be asbestos?

Could this floor be asbestos?

On 2018-08-10 by (mod) - what to do about asbestos content in unidentified floor tiles

Sorry that's not what I recognized but you can take a look through the libraries in this article series.

The flooring is probably one of the newer ones. Start with the age of your house.

Or see the asbestos floor tile ID guides by year

starting at ASBESTOS FLOOR TILE IDENTIFICATION PHOTOS 1949-1959

On 2018-08-10 by Anonymous - Does this tile contain asbestos

Does this tile contain asbestos

On 2018-08-04 by (mod) - for a floor that Could indeed contain asbestos. Assume that it does, or test a sample.

Could indeed contain asbestos. Assume that or test a sample.

See ASBESTOS TESTING LAB LIST

Also I see telegraphing of what looks like subfloor boards from below - though it may just be shadows.

I would not consider changing to ceramic tile without a close examination of the subfloor - thickness and type - and framing below - spacing and cross-bracing, since if the floor flexes your ceramic tile will crack.

On 2018-08-04 by Vinyl sheet flooring

House built in 1972. Installed engineered hardwood in 2015 but planning on changing to a more durable porcelain tile. This vinyl had hardwood over it originally. Must have been installed in the 90s. Doesn’t look like any flowing examples I’m seeing on here. Thoughts?

On 2018-07-26 by Nick

Your thoughts on the flooring with the red diamonds. It looks new-ish, but I want to be safe. Extremely hard to pry up. Squirted some water on the area to be safe.

On 2018-06-30 by (mod) -

The floor looks like a vinyl asbestos floor tile you'll find in this article series - probably Armstrong

For Armstrong flooring identification begin at ARMSTRONG FLOOR TILE IDENTIFICATION - 1951 - 1986 asbestos

Or see this ASBESTOS FLOORING IDENTIFICATION GUIDE INDEX - all brands, all years

On 2018-06-30 by A R

Anyone know this tile may have asbestos? It is 12x12. House was built in 1963. We recently had water damage in basement and the tile needs replaced.

On 2018-06-25 by Andrea S.

I'm putting an offer in on a 1973 townhouse in Maryland. I'm pretty sure the flooring in the utility room is asbestos tile but am hoping you can advise me. So my questions are: Is this asbestos tile? Can it be safely encapsulated? If so, what should be done to seal and cover it with another flooring?

Other townhouses in the same development do have asbestos tile (one I ended up not buying tested positive). I can't remember the name of that one - some type of Excelon. I've seen other utility rooms there with Custom Glenmore Brick Red.

Thanks!
Andrea S.

On 2018-06-20 by (mod) -

Jessica,

For home built in 1988 if the flooring was from the same year and you're talking about a home in North America it's not likely that the flooring contains asbestos. The safest approach in any case is to leave the floor in place and cover it with a new layer flooring

On 2018-06-19 by Jessica

I’m looking at purchasing a home built in 1988. It has vinyl sheet flooring/lineoleum in several rooms that Id like to replace. I have two very small children so I tend to be extra precautious. Do I need to be concerned about asbestos in this instance ?

On 2018-06-14 by (mod) - asbestos-vinyl suspect floor tile in poor condition should be treated with caution

In poor condition and more-so if chopped, ground, sawn, even a relatively-safe non-friable asbestos material (like your vinyl asbestos floor tile) can release asbestos into the air. Intact, left alone, not ground up, it's not hazardous. Where the floor is breaking up there is asbestos some hazard level greater than zero.

The absolute or accurate level is not something one can know from a photo. I suspect if there is little activity nor traffic nor disturbance you'd not be able to detect airborne asbestos.

Clean up and cover up the floor.

See ASBESTOS FLOORING HAZARD REDUCTION

and see the safe procedures like wetting & HEPA vacuuming discussed

at ASBESTOS FLOOR TILE REMOVAL GUIDE

On 2018-06-14 by JS

Thank you for the prompt reply. Is this one of the more dangerous versions? This will be covered in the next few days. But obviously concerned with any exposure I have already had.

That area is only used when going from inside to the back yard. But the dog passes through there regularly, and Im concerned about him tracking asbestos fibers indoors. So I am planning to cover the floor with new tiles after cleaning as discussed. Thank you.

On 2018-06-14 by (mod) -

From the look of the floor and assuming your building is in North America I suspect this is a Kentile or Sears or Wards Spatter pattern vinyl asbestos floor tile - in poor condition.

Removing loose debris, damp wiping, and covering the floor would be appropriate.

On 2018-06-14 by JS

Can you tell me if these look like asbestos. They have been there as long as I can remember. But kind of scared because of their condition. I plan to cover them over ASAP. It's in an outside hallway between an inner and outer door.

On 2018-06-11 by (mod) -

Filling in this low spots with a leveling compound may not work if it won't bond to the asphalt based mastic. If that's the case you might need to fill in with a thin floor tile of the same dimensions.

On 2018-06-10 by Paul

Got it. I thought I saw similar tile on the website. Thanks for confirming. There are some spots where the tiles are missing in the floor. Is it a problem to fill with a self leveling compound to prep to put a ceramic tile floor on top? Most of the floor is in good condition and on top of concrete.

On 2018-06-10 by (mod) -

Paul,

The floor tile that you show looks like a very familiar cork pattern vinyl asbestos flooring that was widely popular over many years in North America particularly in the US.

You'll find other images of that flooring in the Armstrong floor tile guides given in this article series.

On 2018-06-10 by Paul

We just moved into a home built into 1964 and found these 9x9” tiles on one level of the house. What do you think? Some have pretty significant water damage to the

On 2018-06-10 by farina

sorry, important details that I should have included. the house itself was built in 1908, and located in the US–Brooklyn (NY). The last remodel was in 2010, and that's when they removed the linoleum from the steps and partially from the threads.

The remodel in 2010 was done in a "cowboy" way with no permits, and it appears there was no permit for any previous renovation. The first record of the property sold is from 1974, and another sale in 1981 (though that doesn't exclude any prior renovations).

On 2018-06-10 by (mod) -

It would be helpful to know the country state or Province and city where the building is located and the building age, as well as having a guess about the age of any remodeling, renovation or flooring installation.

On 2018-06-10 by farian

asbestos? no asbestos?

When we purchased out house, we saw this "decorative" linoleum steps and kick board.

The previous owner removed the flooring from the treads (I attached an older photo where the stairs are still intact in case it helps) and as I just found out, they only partially removed it from the riser.

Some was painted over, some was removed. I just started stripping the stairs and removed some of that until it came to my mind that it may contain asbestos. I can't find anything about them, and any help is appreciated.

On 2018-05-08 by (mod) -

Liz,

See ASBESTOS FLOOR TILE REMOVAL GUIDE

at https://inspectapedia.com/hazmat/Asbestos-Floor-Removal.php

On 2018-05-08 by Liz Harman

During recent building work we took up the carpets in our c.1930s house to reveal plain dark brown 9 inch floor tiles that have taken on the honeycomb pattern of the carpet underlay laid over them for the past 20 years. We have only just beome aware the tiles could contain asbestos.

Many of the tiles around the edges are broken and loose and we have swept, hoovered and even removed some of the tiles and fragments over the past weeks, as well as living in the rooms and walking on the floors. If we use correct safety measures, can we safely remove all the tiles ourselves and, if so, would you recommend this, or just removing the damaged ones? The tiles are crunchy underfoot, as if the adhesive has broken up under the tiles. If we do remove them, how can we safely dispose of them?

On 2018-05-06 by (mod) - ceramic floor tile asbestos?

Brittney,

It appears to me you're asking about a ceramic tile floor.

If That's the case, even if the style contained asbestos, which would be quite uncommon, the asbestos risk is beneath the limits of detection unless you're grinding chopping or sawing the material.

See CERAMIC TILE, ASBESTOS / LEAD?https://inspectapedia.com/hazmat/Ceramic_Tile_Asbestos_Content.php

On 2018-05-06 by Brittney

Here’s another pic of the tile in question

Hi! I’m wondering if you are able tell/may know if these floors contain asbestos just by looking at them?

My husband and I just purchased this house built in 1948 in Georgia. And I hadn’t thought much about asbestos in floors until finding this website and now I’m concerned. (See attached pic)

...

Continue reading at ASBESTOS FLOORING IDENTIFICATION - topic home, or select a topic from the closely-related articles below, or see the complete ARTICLE INDEX.

Or see ASBESTOS FLOOR TILE IDENTIFICATION FAQs-5 - next in this series of asbestos-suspect flooring identification photos

Or see these

Recommended Articles

• ASBESTOS FLOOR TILE PHOTO ID REQUESTS - home
• ASBESTOS FLOORING HAZARD REDUCTION - steps to take to reduce the asbestos hazard
• ASBESTOS FLOORING HAZARD REDUCTION - steps to take to reduce the asbestos hazard
• ASBESTOS FLOORING REMOVAL GUIDE
• ASBESTOS REMOVAL, WETTING GUIDELINES
• ASBESTOS RISK ASSESSMENT
• ASBESTOS TEST RESULTS for TILE & SHEET FLOORING
• ASBESTOS TESTING LAB LIST
• DOES THIS FLOOR CONTAIN ASBESTOS? - 5 easy questions to tell if your FLOOR probably contains asbestos -
• DOES THIS MATERIAL CONTAIN ASBESTOS? - 5 easy questions to tell if a BUILDING MATERIAL probably contains asbestos -
• FLOOR TILE / SHEET FLOORING PHOTO GUIDES - main list
• RESILIENT SHEET FLOORING ID GUIDE

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ASBESTOS FLOOR TILE IDENTIFICATION FAQs-4 at InspectApedia.com - online encyclopedia of building & environmental inspection, testing, diagnosis, repair, & problem prevention advice.

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