Vinyl Flooring Asbestos Testing

If you face a costly dusty messy demolition it may be appropriate to have a sample of the flooring tested.

Vinyl flooring asbestos testing.

Therefore if you don t see signs of disintegrating pipes insulation walls vinyl flooring or other old materials in your home testing for asbestos may not be necessary. But the flooring companies aim wasn t so much to make the floor tiles fireproof as it was to make the tiles more durable. If you want to test for asbestos keep in mind that asbestos is only dangerous when it degrades and becomes airborne. But when vinyl asbestos flooring is in good condition it is considered nonfriable.

What are asbestos floor tiles. Asbestos was used in vinyl wallpaper from the 1920s and in the vinyl floor tiles and sheet flooring that rose to prominence in the 1950s. Unfortunately vinyl sheet flooring manufactured with an asbestos backing poses a serious exposure risk when it is disturbed. Lab testing of flooring for asbestos content.

Asbestos exposure may pose serious health risks. When vinyl asbestos flooring is crumbling or damaged it is considered friable. Found in many manufactured products prior to the mid 1980 such as pipe insulation ceiling and floor tiles paints caulking fire resistant clothing and brake pads. When you take a sample presume the worst and protect yourself from asbestos.

Like floor tiles vinyl sheet flooring is a long lasting and economical material and it also offers more aesthetic options to suit a homeowner s taste. Multiple layers of tiles. An example would be a floor slab made from asbestos cement. Because asbestos can t be seen with the naked eye materials must be submitted to laboratory certified by the environmental protection agency epa for testing prior to a remodel.

If you do not have one you can buy them in any hardware store. Asbestos vinyl flooring was a durable and economical material that offered many aesthetic options to suit a homeowner s taste. The asbestos floor tile identification articles in this series illustrate that with the combination of design appearance and an idea of floor tile age many asbestos containing floor tiles or sheet flooring products can be reliably identified even before confirmation by a test by a certified asbestos testing laboratory. For 100 protection you need to use n100 or p100 dust masks.

If you have time and about 40. For about 35 years flooring companies included asbestos when they manufactured the vinyl tiles. Testing of vinyl flooring for asbestos. This method is easy and is not time consuming.

You can also have a flooring sample tested for asbestos using one of the certified asbestos testing labs in this asbestos testing lab list.