This Sears Vinyl-Asbestos Floor Tiles Identification Photo Guide will help you determine if your floor tiles are likely to contain asbestos.

This guide contains photographs of Sears Roebuck and Sears Homart® brand asphalt-asbestos flooring &Sears Roebuck vinyl asbestos floor tile identification photographs, a list of product names, styles, colors, and vinyl-asbestos floor patterns, and colors for asbestos-containing floor tile products - flooring materials that are reported to or have been confirmed to contain asbestos in asbestos fiber or asbestos powder-filler form.

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.

Sears or other tile or sheet flooring in good condition is not normally friable and can safely be left in place. If you suspect the floor may contain asbestos, cover it over with new material.

IF you are faced with a requirement for demolition and if you are uncertain about the flooring's asbestos content and cannot identify it through our guides, then either treat the floor as "presumed to contain asbestos" or have a sample tested.

Sears & Roebuck & Homart Asphalt-Asbestos & Vinyl-Asbestos Floor Tiles

Sears Vinyl-Asbestos Flooring:

The following photographs of Sears™ VAT vinyl-asbestos-tile floor tiles, including the original box, were provided by reader Aaron Cramer. Mr. Cramer is an attorney with expertise in asbestos and U.S. patent litigation and services.

The "VAT" visible on the original Sears packaging almost certainly indicates "Vinyl Asbestos Tiles", and we have a lot and pattern number Sears VAT vinyl asbestos floor tile #2119-3, 126715-25VF. See

our ASBESTOS FLOOR TILE IDENTIFICATION PHOTOS 1949-1959 for our full list and set of photographs.

Below our photographs show the embossed pattern on these Sears vinyl asbestos floor tiles.

The tiles are solid through in color and material and are about 1/16" thick and 9" x 9" in size. Below right shows these Sears floor tiles installed.

Our photographs below show a Sears Vinyl Asbestos Tile floor that is in poor condition.

This floor needs to be professionally cleaned and replaced, or covered-over.

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.

For a detailed photo guide to individual vinyl-asbestos floor tile patterns, brands, sizes, and years of manufacture,

see ASBESTOS FLOOR TILE IDENTIFICATION PHOTOS 1949-1959.

(Additional Sears Roebuck vinyl asbestos floor covering photos wanted - CONTACT US)

Sears Homart Brand Asphalt Floor Tiles

These photos of packaging for Sears Roebuck Co. Homart brand asphalt floor tiles are provided courtesy of InspectApedia reader Susan Teelon, posted originally

at ASBESTOS FLOORING IDENTIFICATION

Below: a closer look at the Homart asphalt floor tile packaging label.

Sears Asphalt-Asbestos & Vinyl Asbestos 9x9 Floor Tiles: Harmony House

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Images provided courtesy of reader Steve.

Below: 1960's vintage Sears 9x9 Harmony House asphalt asbestos floor tile, Stock No. 2349-1, Shade code 066516 2H

 

Sears Asphalt-Asbestos Flooring: Homart® Floor Tile Identification & Photos

Reader Question: identifying SEARS brand HOMART 64-716 Floor Tiles & various other brands and product numbers of floor tiles

Do you know if the SEARS brand HOMART 64-7169 asphalt floor tile contained asbestos? - Paul Wright 9/22/11

[Note: the flooring shown at left is a different Homart pattern that is discussed immediately below - Ed.]

[Click to enlarge any photo]

Reader Question: do these Homart brand floor tiles contain asbestos?

We bought a home that was built in the late 1700s and one guest room has Homart Sears tiles in it. I've included a picture as well as the nomenclature on the box which was in the attic. I figure they would be estimated to be 30-40 years old. Do these contain asbestos?

There is some crumbling in the edges bordering the wood floors in the hallway [photo below-left]. Would this be subject for alarm? Anon [by private email] 14 Sept 2015

Shown at above and below left, Sears brand Homart Asphalt Floor Tile, No. 7190 Med. Cork Color, 9x9" asphalt floor tiles. Based on brand, pattern and age it is reasonable to assume that this flooring contains asbestos.

Reply:

The cork pattern Homart asphalt floor tiles shown in the two photos at left and above is a widely-used and long popular Sears Homart asphalt asbestos floor tile in the cork pattern.

To know with certainty that a flooring product contains asbestos you'd want to send a sample to an asbestos test lab (about $50. U.S.D.) but given the age, pattern, and data on the carton it is reasonable to assume that this flooring contains asbestos.

The flooring would not of course date to the origins of the home but more likely to years from the early 1950's through 1970's. The cork pattern was popular for many decades.

ADVICE: It would be prudent to treat the flooring as "PACM" or "Presumed Asbestos Containing Material".

That does not mean we should panic nor undertake an expensive and dangerous asbestos removal project.

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.

Generally the safest approach is to leave such flooring alone and to cover it over with a coating or with another layer of flooring.

If the only damage to the Sears Homart® brand floor tiles shown in the two photos above is the broken edge at the transition between the asphalt-asbestos tile and the wood floor I would not consider this justification for a costly demolition and removal of the flooring. I would either glue the loose fragments in place using a clear silicone adhesive, or I would remove the few fragments and then cover the transition between the two floors with a low-profile oak floor transition strip to prevent further damage.

At ASBESTOS FLOORING LEFT IN PLACE we describe procedures for sealing or covering asbestos-containing flooring so that it can be safely left in place. This is both the most ecoomical and the safest approach as demolition risks creating asbestos-containing dust and debris that can be a challenge to manage.

In the article we cite a 1960's vinyl-asbestos floor was cleaned then sealed with an expoxy paint. That floor was ugly. But for the cork pattern flooring shown above a better approach may be non-abrasive cleaning followed by a clear-coat sealer (also discussed in the "left in place" article).

For other flooring whose age and identity is uncertain, by email alone no one can say with certainty whether or not a floor tile contains asbestos, but if your flooring matches one of the ACM floor tiles we illustrate here, AND if you are confident about the age most likely it is an asbestos-containing product.

And yes, for sure there were some peel-and-stick floor tiles that contained asbestos in the tile baking.

That does not necessarily mean that you need a costly asbestos remediation job - it depends on the condition of the surface, use made of the area, etc. If the floor is sound you may have the option of simply covering it with a new material.

While we have published product and lot numbers for some floor tile products, there are just too many of them, thousands. Unlike mechanical equipment like water heaters or furnaces, I have not found a standard of correlation between product numbers and date of manufacture, though it probably was included in widely varying ways by individual manufacturers.

Observations to Narrow Down The Chances of Asbestos in Older Sears Roebuck / Homart Floor Tiles

Note the following inspection points when guessing at the risk that old flooring contains asbestos:

• Age of the building itself as that sets the earliest plausible date for its floor materials +/- a year or so to allow for flooring sold from stock
• Date of any renovations of the building
• Whether or not there are multiple layers of flooring or other similar changes that give a renovation history
• Information on any packaging used for the floor tiles - sometimes an extra box of floor tiles is left and stored in a building, intended to supply future repairs or changes to the floor
• Compare the appearance of your flooring to the photographs we provide in these tile identification articles
• Send a small sample of flooring to a certified asbestos testing lab
• See also
  
  at DOES THIS FLOOR CONTAIN ASBESTOS?

Watch out: For a tile floor of unknown constituents, do not do something foolish such as grinding, sanding, power sawing, or a dusty messy demolition.

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.

Our InspectApedia.com photo guides to asphalt asbestos & vinyl asbestos floor tiles for each year show 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.

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 page bottom Comment Box - one photo per comment.

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.

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Reader Q&A - also see RECOMMENDED ARTICLES & FAQs

On 2023-02-01 by Steve - possible asbestos in 1970s N. Florida Sears "Excelon Polished Marble" floor tiles

I found what looks like a perfect match to (54192 Peruvian Beige/ EXCELON POLISHED MARBLE ) .

My house is early 70’s, Northern Florida. I don’t see any of the tiles compromised so I plan on laying another floor directly over it. Thoughts?

On 2023-02-01 by InspectApedia Editor (mod)

@Steve,

Exactly right - that's the safest and simplest remedy.

Read more at

ASBESTOS FLOORING HAZARD REDUCTION
https://inspectapedia.com/hazmat/Asbestos-Flooring-Hazard-Reduction.php

On 2023-02-01 by Steve - are these N. Florida home 1970s Floor Tiles likely to conitain asbestos?

One more post/question- This image is of my bathroom floor. Same house (Northern Florida-early 70’s)

I didn’t find an exact match but quite a few that were very similar. The floor has no holes and is in pretty good shape.

It’s severely flattened over the year but that’s it. I wanted to pull it and lay something else down, but after finding this site, I think I may just cover it with a new floor. If anyone finds a match please chime in. I will monitor this page for the next week or so. TIA!

On 2023-02-01 by InspectApedia Editor (mod)

@Steve,

We'd give the same answer as we did to your last post - best to leave in place and cover with new flooring.

BUT if you do choose to remove, the same article we referred you to will give our best advice for doing so.

On 2021-05-05 by howie - might Sears "roll-out" sheet flooring from the 1980s contain asbestos?

we have a roll out floor from sears sometime in the 80s would it be made of asbestos

On 2021-05-07 by danjoefriedman (mod)

@howie, it is definitely possible, particularly if the flooring was manufactured before 1986.

On 2020-03-15 by Alice - Asbestos in 9x9. Stock # 2319-7, pattern # 96712PJ1 floor tiles from Sears?

I found a box of these Sears tiles in my house and am wondering if you can tell me if they contain asbestos. They are 9x9. Stock # 2319-7, pattern # 96712PJ1.

On 2020-03-18 by danjoefriedman (mod)

Alice,

So sorry but no I cannot say if those tiles contain asbestos or not.

But answering some questions about the home where they were found could put some bounds on the question.

See DOES THIS FLOORING CONTAIN ASBESTOS? https://inspectapedia.com/hazmat/Asbestos-Floor-Tile-Identification.php

On 2018-07-07 by DK - Sears Homart light gray floor tiles

Can you tell me if these floor tiles are known to contain asbestos?

Thank you.
Image Lost by Comments Box Software - sorry.

On 2018-07-07 by danjoefriedman (mod)

DK

Your packaging photo shows asphalt based Sears Homart light gray floor tiles were its contents.
I would much like to also see photos of the tile front, edge, and back surfaces.

As asphalt based floor tiles have not been produced for decades in the U.S. I suspect these are quite old - well before the 1980's. If I'm correct it'd be prudent to treat the tiles as Asphalt asbestos flooring.

We look forward to seeing your photos of the actual floor. That will assist others.

Question: - does this dark spotted or speckled floor tile contain asbestos?

2020/01/11 Steve M. said

Does anyone know if they contains asbestos?

This discussion was posted originally

at DOES THIS FLOORING CONTAIN ASBESTOS?

Above: Sears 9x9 Harmony House asphalt asbestos floor tile, Stock No. 2349-1, Shade code 066516 2H

Reply:

Steve

That looks like a 1960s asphalt badsed floor tile. Do you have an age and manufacturer?

Reader follow-up:

Sears, there was also instructions on how to install asphalt and asbestos tiles. So it’s gotta be asbestos right?

but if you look at the picture it says asphalt on the box and not asbestos

Moderator reply:

I hear you;

I would treat the floor as containing asbestos or have a sample tested.

 

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Continue reading  at SELF-ADHESIVE PEEL & STICK ON ASBESTOS TILE IDENTIFICATION or select a topic from the closely-related articles below, or see the complete ARTICLE INDEX.

Or see these

Recommended Articles

• ASBESTOS FLOOR TILE IDENTIFICATION PHOTOS 1949-1959 for a detailed photo guide to individual vinyl-asbestos floor tile patterns, brands, sizes, and years of manufacture
• ASBESTOS FLOORING HAZARD REDUCTION
• ASBESTOS FLOORING REMOVAL GUIDE
• ASBESTOS TESTING LAB LIST
• DOES THIS FLOOR CONTAIN ASBESTOS? - 5 easy questions help make an educated guess
• FLOOR TILE HISTORY & INGREDIENTS for a discussion of the ingredients and production of asbestos-containing flooring.
• SEARS KIT HOME IDENTIFICATION
• SELF-ADHESIVE PEEL & STICK ON ASBESTOS TILE IDENTIFICATION - later asbestos-containing floor tiles

Suggested citation for this web page

SEARS ROEBUCK VINYL ASBESTOS FLOOR TILE RECOGNITION at InspectApedia.com - online encyclopedia of building & environmental inspection, testing, diagnosis, repair, & problem prevention advice.

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INDEX to RELATED ARTICLES: ARTICLE INDEX to ASBESTOS HAZARDS

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