Asbeastos Tiles

[Jonny128]

Hi wondering if anyone can give me some advise, was taking up a floor today in a 1960s block of flats, underneath the carpets was a set of vinyl square tiles which were layed on a sheet of wood. They were not stuck down and were quite flexible with a hessian type backing, only occurred to me after that they may contain asbeastos, anyone know anything about this ?

 

[Time's Ran Out]

Linoleum most likely!

 

[LM]

Hi wondering if anyone can give me some advise, was taking up a floor today in a 1960s block of flats, underneath the carpets was a set of vinyl square tiles which were layed on a sheet of wood. They were not stuck down and were quite flexible with a hessian type backing, only occurred to me after that they may contain asbeastos, anyone know anything about this ?

As John says they are most likely linoleum tiles. Linoleum needs the hessian backing to keep the material together and this in turns makes the tile very pliable. Asbestos tiles will have been stuck down with what's known in the trade as blackjack, it looks like tar or asphalt and the tiles if they're old will easily pop off the floor, they are also very brittle.