Floor tiles containing asbestos?

[masterbuilders]

On many occasions I've come across 1960s-1970s 6 or 8 inch plastic floor tiles, mainly black colour, which chip off easily when removed. These tiles are mostly stuck on concrete screeds with bitumenous adhesive. Someone mentioned recently that these tiles contain asbestos. Has anyone heard this before, and if that's the case what are the health and safety issues for removal and disposal?
Many thanks, John.

 

[Alan.P]

If you suspect that they or any material contains asbestos you must inform the local authority, they will check it out, you can carry on working around materials suspected of it as long as it's not disturbed, if you feel that way inclined, if it is found to contain asbestos then removal MUST be done by people licensed to do so.

EDIT: If it's on a site then they will have an asbestos register that will list all asbestos on site and what type etc

 

[davebates]

i have these in my house when i came to fit laminate flooring think there called marley tiles from the 70's im pretty sure there asbestos containing and the paper backing is more dangerous then the tile because of it fragility, if your laminating or carpeting you can go straight over the top if you need to take them up be very very carefull and should be done by the professionals !!! i had to remove some broken ones which i kept very wet to stop any dust and wore a suitible mask the 3m filter masks with the red elastic meet the safety spec for asbestos fibres but what ever you do be carefull with i have an uncle with asbestosis it aint pretty !!!

 

[tfs]

This is true John,

approx 6 years ago I was working on a shop fitting project and had to rip these up prior to amtico flooring being installed(as instructed by site foreman) I was told a few weeks later that the floor tiles most likely contained asbestos!

I have mentioned the possibilty of these types of tiles containing asbestos a few times on the forums.

You can get inspections and licensed specialests to remove asbestos based materials. Ihave seen this firm on a few site that I have worked on in the past Aspect - Asbestos Removal

Unfortunatly this type of service does not come cheap though!

When I have seen these tiles removed the full room has been sheeted over to seal the room with visqueen type sheets, air filters etc were then used to remove dust etc and all materials were securely bagged and taken away to be disposed of. Even the guys doing the work had to go through a small decontamination unit/ trailer that they travel around with on the back of there vans etc.

 

[masterbuilders]

thanks davebates, I wasn't aware that these types of vynil tiles contain asbestos but i would certainly be very carefull before removing them in the future.

 

[tfs]

If you wish to improve your knowledge and awareness of asbestos you can undergo training. Companies such as HSS training (HSS tools hires training division) provide short courses aimed at those in the industry to enable tradesmen to work in a smarter way when there is a possibilty of asbestos being present.

 

[Alan.P]

thanks davebates, I wasn't aware that these types of vynil tiles contain asbestos but i would certainly be very carefull before removing them in the future.

That's the thing, not all of them do, and to make it worse, you can't tell, you can't see it with the naked eye, if in doubt, stop work and get it tested on site by the pro's.

As for being careful, what would you do with any waste that you thought might contain asbestos ?

 

[masterbuilders]

Thank tfs

 

[mikethetile]

yes they do contian asbestos if they are from the 60s/70s. you can remove yourself if you follow the hse guidelines

 

[davebates]

certain tips will take double bagged asbestos if you ring them before hand