Asbestos in Armstrong Flooring
Lab Test Results for Armstrong Floor Tiles & Sheet Flooring that Contain Asbestos

POST a QUESTION or COMMENT about tests or other documentation confirming the use of asbestos in older Armstrong flooring products

This page provides test results and photos of asbestos-containing Armstrong floor tiles & sheet flooring.

These flooring products typically contain chrysotile asbestos, and possibly other asbestos forms.

Page top photo: Armstrong Pecan Beige asphalt asbestos floor tile (pattern C-913) has been confirmed by independent testing to contain about 10% asbestos.

InspectAPedia tolerates no conflicts of interest. We have no relationship with advertisers, products, or services discussed at this website.

Asbestos in Armstrong Asphalt & Vinyl Flooring

Asphalt asbestos-like floor tiles, probably Armstrong 1940-1955 (C) Inspectapedia.com

Asphalt asbestos and vinyl-asbestos floor tiles were produced in 6x6", 9" x 9", 12" x 12", and even 18" x 18" as well as in decorative strips, special cutout shapes, custom dimensions.

[Click to enlarge any image]

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?

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.

Asbestos Test Results: Armstrong Solarian 65% Chrysotile Asbestos Content

2020/12/09 ED said:

We tested this Armstrong Sundial Solarian sheet flooring. The test results show the backing made of is 65% chrysotile asbestos fiber.

The area in the image was under a cabinet and still had the Armstrong stamp on it. In another area, it looks like it might be numbered 66660.

Moderator reply:

Ed, thank you very much for posting the photo and asbestos test results for that Armstrong Solarian flooring. That information will be most helpful to other readers.

Do you have an idea of the age of the building in which the floor was installed and perhaps about when the flooring itself was placed?

Country and city are also helpful.

Test Results for Armstrong Sheet Flooring - 70% Asbestos

The resilient flooring shown above was a popular pattern and in two out of three tests reported by our readers has been confirmed as containing asbestos.

This is an Armstrong brick pattern sheet flooring product.

More images of this floor pattern are

at SHEET & TILE FLOORING ASBESTOS ID-BRICK PATTERN ID

and also at ARMSTRONG BRADFORD BRICK SHEET

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: Armstrong shattered stone pattern flooring confirmed to contain asbestos

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.

Also see OLD PEBBLE PATTERN FLOOR TILE for discussion of a similar product image.

Watch out: confusion among sheet flooring names and terms can make it difficult to sort out which products contain asbestos.

For example we've read websites claiming that "in 1980 asbestos in linoleum was already banned" but in fact true linoleum, a type of sheet flooring discussed

at LINOLEUM & SHEET FLOORING is not and never was an asbestos-containing product.

The confusion stems from the use of the word "linoleum" as a generic term for "sheet flooring". Linoleum does not contain asbestos.

But many sheet flooring products do contain asbestos in a white or light colored core or in a black asphalt-impregnated felt backer.

Some readers have reported that their test of 1980-era Armstrong Solarian sheet flooring contained asbestos. Without confirming that the floor was properly identified and without seeing the lab report such reports may be true and accurate but still they're anecdotal.

Test Results for Armstrong Sheet Flooring - 70% Asbestos confirmed

Reader comment:

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.

Asbestos in Armstrong Floor Tiles Confirmed

According to Armstrong vinyl-asbestos floor tiles such as those shown here were produced by the company from 1951 through 1973.

These examples illustrate two shades of Palimino Beige 9"x9"x1/8"-thick asphalt-asbestos tile (AAT) whose asbestos content has been confirmed by asbestos test lab results generously provided along with these photographs by reader L.R. (October 2012).[25]

Our own field work has found that this tile pattern, in a range of colors illustrated below, was enormously popular and can still be found installed in thousands of homes built between 1951 and the early 1970's.

The most common colors we have found include the beige shades shown below along with green, white, black, and Apache red illustrated further below.

The Armstrong Pecan Beige asphalt asbestos floor tile illustrated at above left (pattern C-913) has been confirmed by independent testing to contain about 10% asbestos while the Armstrong Palimino Beige asphalt floor tile (above right, pattern C-926) was confirmed at 6.4% asbestos.

Our photo, courtesy of reader L.N. illustrates the original packaging used for Armstrong asphalt floor tiles - Armstrong Asphalt Floor Tile, produced by Armstrong’s Cork division.

The tile pattern identified as C-926 Palimon Beige corresponds to the tile photograph at above right, a 1/8" gauge asphalt asbestos floor tile.

These tiles are mostly asphalt with the percentages of asbestos given above, as tested by the reader's asbestos lab. Armstrong has indicated that that these tiles almost certainly contained asbestos but they said that as long as the tiles are not ground or sanded there should not be a detectable asbestos hazard in residential use.

1950's Armstrong Excelon Plastic Asbestos Floor Tiles Described as "plastic asbestos tiles".

Definition & Composition of Vinyl based asbestos resilient floor tiles

Vinyl asbestos floor tiles (VAT) refers to resilient flooring whose basic binding material was a vinyl plastic, replacing asphalt as the primary ingredient.

The 1954 catalog refers to the existence of at least a 1952 version of this vinyl-asbestos resilient floor tile product:

"Federal Specifications - Interim Federal Specifications No. L T 751 (GSA-FSS) dated March 18, 1952, defines Armstrong's Excelon Tile and other similar plastic asbestos tiles as Type I Semi Flexible Vinyl Plastic Floor Tile.
...
... the thermoplastic binder of a vinyl plastic floor tile shall consist of only a limited group of certain specific types of polyvinyl chloride resins despite the fact that a wide range of vinyl resins could be used.
...
... note that while Excelon Tile does not the exact material composition of Interim Specifications No. L T 751, it does meet all the physical tests listed."

Reader Comments, Questions & Answers About The Article Above

Below you will find questions and answers previously posted on this page at its page bottom reader comment box.

Reader Q&A - also see RECOMMENDED ARTICLES & FAQs

These readers' tests confirmed asbestos in certain Armstrong flooring products.

On 2022-03-23 by Inspectapedia Com Moderator (mod) - this Armstrong vinyl flooring has 9% asbestos chrysotile

@Sue Woznuk,

Thank you for that asbestos test report - it will certainly help other readers, and we'll keep it with this page.

Can you tell us the country and city of location of the building where this floor is installed, and tell us the building age and, if you know it, the age of the flooring?

You can if you're willing, use the page top or bottom CONTACT link to let me see a copy of the lab report - (we keep your identity and personal information private).

Thanks.

On 2022-03-23 by Sue Woznuk

This Armstrong vinyl flooring has 9% asbestos chrysotile

Question: Do you think this late 1960's pebble-pattern floor tile contains asbestos? (photo attached)

I’m wondering if you can tell me if this tile contains asbestos.

We’re pretty sure it was installed sometime in the late 1960s. It is in fairly good condition so we were going to coat it with an epoxy and floor over it instead of remove it. Any help with confirmation would be appreciated.- D.B. 4/17/2013

Reply: yes.

Thank you for the interesting question and photo of your asbestos-suspect floor tile: - it helps us realize where we need to work on making our text more clear or more complete.

A competent onsite inspection by an expert usually finds additional clues that help accurately diagnose a problem or conditions that might change advice one can give by email. That apology said, here are some things to consider:

Probably yes this is an asbestos-containing floor; the pattern looks like both tiles and sheet flooring for which we've had other reports and lab tests confirming asbestos content.

If the material was installed before the early 1980's that adds to the probability that it should be treated as PACM (presumed asbestos containing material).

Similar or even matching patterns to your tile are

at ASBESTOS FLOOR TILE IDENTIFICATION PHOTOS 1949-1959

including my photo of sheet flooring near the top of that article. You can see a long history of similar flooring patterns back at least to 1965 and shown in our 1960-69 tile ID guide

at ARMSTRONG EMBOSSED PEBBLETTE in 1965

In that same 1960 - 1969 ARMSTRONG EXCELON FLOOR TILES page we show a similar floor pattern to yours

and asbestos test results confirming asbestos in that floor are now found above on this page.

As your vinyl-asbestos (or asphalt asbestos in older products) floor in good condition, and this is a non-friable material, I'm not sure you need to epoxy over it before installing a new floor.

Typically a new floor would involve a base layer of rosin paper or similar product, then sleepers, and a new subfloor and floor above, OR simply a tile-over using mastic or sheet flooring.

In my OPINION the volume of asbestos-containing particles from the old floor that would rise into the occupied space up through the new floor in such an installation would be beneath the limits of detection. Just avoid making a dusty mess by drilling, grinding, breaking up flooring, and you should be OK.

If circumstances change and there were reason to have to tear up the floor, you would be smart to simply treat the material as asbestos-containing material. See the Recommended Articles at the end of this page.

And of course for around $50. you could have a sample tested by a certified asbestos test lab.

But frankly, unless facing a costly cleanup or a health worry I'd save my test money and handle the material as I've described.

...

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Citations & References

In addition to any citations in the article above, a full list is available on request.

[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
[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 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
[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 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
[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 possilbe 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
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, 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
In addition to citations & references found in this article, see the research citations given at the end of the related articles found at our suggested

CONTINUE READING or RECOMMENDED ARTICLES.

Carson, Dunlop & Associates Ltd., 120 Carlton Street Suite 407, Toronto ON M5A 4K2. Tel: (416) 964-9415 1-800-268-7070 Email: info@carsondunlop.com. Alan Carson is a past president of ASHI, the American Society of Home Inspectors.

Thanks to Alan Carson and Bob Dunlop, for permission for InspectAPedia to use text excerpts from The HOME REFERENCE BOOK - the Encyclopedia of Homes and to use illustrations from The ILLUSTRATED HOME .

Carson Dunlop Associates provides extensive home inspection education and report writing material. In gratitude we provide links to tsome Carson Dunlop Associates products and services.

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Asbestos in Armstrong Flooring
Lab Test Results for Armstrong Floor Tiles & Sheet Flooring that Contain Asbestos

Asbestos in Armstrong Asphalt & Vinyl Flooring