Color photo guide to asphalt asbestos and vinyl asbestos floor tiles, 1900 -1986 using dominant floor tile color to identify the probable asbestos-containing floor tile brand, pattern, and age.

Here is an asbestos floor tile identification key sorted by primary flooring color: black.

The asphalt asbestos floor tiles at page top include a combination of OSAGE GREEN 780 and either CHOCTAW GREEN 784 (nearly black) or more likely COMMANCHE BLACK 772.

This article series 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.

Examples of Black Asphalt Asbestos Floor Tiles

Above: several of Armstrong's asphalt-asbestos floor tiles from 1954 look "black' though the company assigned more-refined colour names.

On this page we give examples of popular black or dark gray floor tiles that contained asbestos. You'll see from our photos above that the while a tile may include a lot of beige or brown as a dominant color, it may also contain streaks or spots or spatters of other colors.

Click the pattern names to see images not already shown, or

[Click to enlarge any image]

• BLACK GOLD 351 floor tile (1960) shown above.

• CENTENNIAL style (Nocturne black 817(above from 1963) [Click to enlarge image]

• CHARCOAL BLACK 752 1954 floor tile - above

• COMMANCHE BLACK 772 shown above, from Armstrong's 1955 flooring catalog

• CORSAIR BLACK 867 floor tile (above) from 1962

• CHOCTAW GREEN 784 this very dark green may look "black" in some installations - from 1956

• DORSET BLACK 732 - this Armstrong spatter pattern floor tile was introduced for the first time in 1959
  
  Spatter pattern floor tiles were produced in Andover White 735, Bedford Gray 736, Cape Cod Beige 737, Cornwall Blue, Dorset Black, Rutland Beige 746, Worcester Gray 749

• HAMPTON BLACK 1106 vinyl asbestos flooring image is from Armstrong's 1963 floor tile line-up.
• In addition, Excelon solid color strips were provided in Plain Black 790

Below: Asphalt asbestos black floor tiles with interwoven white and gray on a diagonal layout, probably 1950s or early 1960s, courtesy of an InspectApedia reader.

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Armstrong and other floor tile or sheet flooring manufacturers often offered several patterns with a particular dominant color that can help quickly identify the flooring brand and style. We include some examples here.

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

Abestos-containing floor tile pattern number key

For Armstrong floor tiles, the three digit color or pattern numbers originated in the 1950's or 1960's while the five-digit color or pattern numbers date typically from the 1970's or 1980's.

 

 

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Reader Q&A - also see RECOMMENDED ARTICLES & FAQs

On 2021-07-01 by mak.church (mod) - how to handle asbestos-suspect tiles under other old flooring

@Quentin,

Asbestos-containing floor tile is safest and legal to leave in place when it is secure and not-damaged.

There are 3 situations each with a "best" answer

Recommended Articles

ASBESTOS in GOOD CONDITION - what to do about it - in general for all ACM we leave it alone

ASBESTOS FLOORING LEFT IN PLACE - keep it and cover it

ASBESTOS FLOORING REMOVAL GUIDE - if you must remove it

For a floor in poor condition, options are:

- complete removal (expensive and more-risky)

- a floor with a few loose tiles, most well-adhered: pick up the loose ones, HEPA vac the area, use a floor filler or a new tile to fill the area where old tiles were removed, then cover with new sheet or tile flooring or other new covering, even carpeting.

- as an alternative to removing a floor with many loose tiles and an un-even surface, if the site conditions such as door thresholds, floor level consistency, nearby stairs, etc. don't present a problem, I would consider picking up loose debris, then laying down building paper, then furring strips to support a new subfloor and finish floor.

Keep in mind that that black mastic also may contain asbestos; Where it's easy to remove a lot of loose floor tiles we might do that and then use an asbestos encapsulant paint to seal the surface before putting down new flooring of any sort we prefer.

You'll find articles on ASBESTOS in MASTIC ADHESIVE and also ASBESTOS SEALANT PAINTS in the ARTICLE INDEX

On 2021-07-01 by Quentin

A picture of what's beneath the tile.

Hello, I'm presuming this mid century bathroom tile to be asbestos. I was planning to cover it with self leveling concrete, and tile on top (going to add a lot of height, unfortunately). The tile is brittle and not in great shape, and I'm afraid of it cracking beneath the concrete and ruining the new floor. Is taking it up perhaps the better option?

Beneath the tile is black adhesive and some sort of backing that is fuzzy/cardboard like and also black. I'm not sure if it's adhesive or not. Any thoughts on what's the best option to move forward with? I'm not sure how to add additional pictures to a comment, but I will post another comment.

[Photo of black & white floor tiles above at Moderator's reply]

On 2020-11-17 - by (mod) - asbestos in black and white floor tiles in Columbia & Mexico?

Daniel

Si, es bien posible que el piso contiene el asbestos .

What is the age of the building and what is the age of the floor?

Aquel piso es muy comon, lo he visto cruz Mexico tambien.

On 2020-11-17 by Daniel

Hi! Do you think this floor may contain asbestos. I'm renting this house since last two years, and at some point I worried about the floor, due to some documentary, My kid plays sometimes in the floor.

I don't have any other information than visual since it no my house. I tried to follow your guide but I'm not sure.

This is in Colombia.

On 2020-09-19 by irena1newman - black and white 12x12" floor tile asbestos?

Different colors black and white same home built in 1956. Are these asbestos vinyl floors?

On 2020-08-16 by Mari

Can you identify these 12x12" tiles? House was built in 1950 in US, but these tiles were added later by previous owner sometime prior to 2000. Any idea if they contain asbestos?

On 2020-03-23 by Anonymous

Thank you for the follow-up. Do let me know what you find out as it will assist others.

On 2020-03-23 by Laura

I really appreciate your quick response! I was able to contact the owners we purchased the home from and he confirmed that the floor tiles were in the house when he purchased it in 1990.

He couldn’t explain the brochure for laying “resilient tile” in with the stack of tiles, though, but we’re going to get the tiles tested & dispose of them properly. Thank you again for your help!
Laura

On 2020-03-22 - by (mod) - spatter pattern asphalt/vinyl-asbestos floor tile that is likely to contain asbestos

That looks like a spatter pattern asphalt/vinyl-asbestos floor tile that is likely to contain asbestos. Yet the (C) date of the brochure is past the asbestos-use era.

Can you confirm that the brochure is for-sure part of those tile?

If so we can argue with ourselves that popular floor tile patterns were made over many years and can include both asbestos-containing and non-asbestos versions.

Also see SPECKLED / SPOTTED FLOOR TILE ASBESTOS

On 2020-03-21 by Laura

Hello!

Our house was built in the year 1900, but was renovated as late as the mid to late 1990’s. We’re trying to sell the home now, but the tile in the basement was flagged by the inspector as potentially containing asbestos.

My husband found stacks of unused floor tiles in a cabinet in the basement, along with a “how to lay floor tile” brochure with a copyright of 1991.

The tile is black with pink, green, and yellow spots, which I didn’t find in your color guide, so am really hoping you agree with my theory that the tile was installed around or during the home renovation and doesn’t contain asbestos. Thank you for any help!

On 2020-02-22 by (mod) - make a reasonable guess if this black flooring is asbestos...

That looks like a vinyl floor tile added atop older black floor tiles - both could contain asbestos. These questions can help you make an educated guess

DOES THIS FLOOR CONTAIN ASBESTOS?

On 2020-02-22 by Micah

Please help us make a reasonable guess if this is asbestos...

House was built in 1968, but flooded in 1998. Previous homeowners told current home owners that all the flooring was totally replaced after the flood.

So we began removal full speed but when we realized they had 2 layers of flooring and mastic was black like we’d never seen before... that’s when we thought of asbestos.

Does anyone know if knowledge of asbestos must be disclosed when selling a home?

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

On 2019-07-09 by (mod) - green & black 9" asphalt based floor tiles probably contain asbestos.

Dan,

Thanks for the photo and question. Unfortunately, when someone includes a flooring photo but no other information I'm a bit cautious about pretending we know for sure whether or not the floor contains asbestos

. For your photo, for example, I can SPECULATE that that looks like older asphalt-asbestos 9" floor tile, I really DO NOT KNOW - as I don't know a thing about your floor: age, size, location: country and city.

The questions and answers at DOES THIS FLOOR CONTAIN ASBESTOS? https://inspectapedia.com/hazmat/DIY-Asbestos-Floor-Test.php

can get us past the "I dunno" stage.

On 2019-07-07 by Dan Grahn

Does this tile look like it contains asbestos?

The color looks right in the image.

I can't find it in the database.

On 2019-06-26 by (mod) - Treat that black and white chip floor tile as PACM

Those are not a tile pattern I've seen, Michelle - and the floor may not be Armstrong but another brand - or have you seen a trademark or labeling?

If the floor is as old as you think then it'd make sense to treat it as Presumed Asbestos-Containing Material.

See DOES THIS FLOOR CONTAIN ASBESTOS? at https://inspectapedia.com/hazmat/DIY-Asbestos-Floor-Test.php

for details

On 2019-06-26 by Michelle

This is from a 1963 house are these tiles that contain asbestos?

On 2020-09-26 by (mod) - 1949 asphalt-asbestos red & black floor tiles installed in Ottawa, Ontario

Treat that floor [shown just above, black and tan] as presumed to contain asbestos, Chris.

Asphalt based floor tiles like yours from the 1940s in Canada or the U.S. almost certainly contain asbestos.

On 2020-09-26 by Chris

Just found these babies in my 1949 (estimate) Ottawa, Ontario, Canada home.

Looks like some of the prints on this website.

Thoughts?

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Continue reading  at DOES THIS MATERIAL CONTAIN ASBESTOS? - 5 easy questions to tell if a BUILDING MATERIAL probably contains asbestos, or select a topic from the closely-related articles below, or see the complete ARTICLE INDEX.

Or see these

Recommended Articles

• ASBESTOS FLOORING IDENTIFICATION GUIDE INDEX - all brands, all years
• ASBESTOS FLOOR TILE PHOTO ID GUIDE - home
• ASBESTOS FLOOR TILE IDENTIFICATION COLOR KEY - home
• ASBESTOS FLOORING HAZARD REDUCTION
• ASBESTOS FLOORING LEFT IN PLACE
• ASBESTOS FLOORING REMOVAL GUIDE
• ASBESTOS TESTING LAB LIST
• DOES THIS FLOOR CONTAIN ASBESTOS? - 5 easy questions to tell if your FLOOR probably contains asbestos -
• FLOOR TILE / SHEET FLOORING PHOTO GUIDES

Suggested citation for this web page

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

Or see this

INDEX to RELATED ARTICLES: ARTICLE INDEX to ASBESTOS HAZARDS

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