Weird floor situation, please help!

So we just bought a house built in the early 50s. The basement isn't finished, but the floor has some old tiles. They look a lot like pictures of asbestos tiles used back then. I plan on getting them tested soon. They have been painted over with grey latex paint at some point.

If they turn out to be asbestos, I'd rather not have them removed due to cost. I am considering some sort of epoxy floor to cover them.

Can anyone tell me if it is possible to apply this type of flooring over the painted tiles?

Any other alternatives I may want to consider?

Thanks for the advice!

-Adrien

The asbestos isn't that big of a deal just don't stir up a lot of dust, keep a spray bottle of water around to keep the dust out of the air, Since you are the home owner you can do this yourself! I would suggest getting rid of it that way it isn't ever an issue again! Asbestos is a problem when it is old, brittle and broken get rid of it before your problem grows!

Asbestos is very harmful. Inhalation of asbestos fibers can be deadly.

Adrien you need to remove the tiles.

Do some research on how to remove Asbestos before you try this.

Here in California you must be certified to remove Asbestos unless it is 100 square feet or less but still follow all regulations.

Hi,

If the vinyl asbestos tile is down securely, I suggest cleaning it real well, taking off any wax, etc., then to scratch it up using a high end latex modified thinset.
The tile on the floor now will act as a great crack suppressant membrane.

Do not remove the asbestos tile yourself, regardless of how much there is. It is not only harmful to your health, but if the spores enter the home, you will never be able to sell it.

There was an installer in the past that removed some, the home owners went to sell the home, the inspector found the asbestos in the air, and the installer had to buy the house, and tear it down.

Linda

Asbestos fibers can lead to deadly health problems. That is undeniable, however, the asbestos in vinyl floors and in its adhesives is categorized as "nonfriable" which means unless you grind/pulverize, etc, it's remaining within the matrix of it's containing material. It's not like the insulation wrapping a boiler.

There are certain buzz words for lawyers. Asbestos is one of them. Following safe removal practices, most places allow homeowners to remove vinyl floors themselves and some even consider it as regular solid waste.

The readers digest version is to keep the area where you are working wet with water and dawn dish soap using a garden sprayer, while wearing proper personal protection and keeping a positive air supply into the room and keeping it sealed off from other rooms. Double bag the trash and mark it as hazardous, asbestos. Use a shop vac with a hepa filter to clean up the slurry of water and adhesive you've scraped while keeping it wet.

You can read the complete instructions at The Resilient Floorcovering Institute of America Website at [www.rfci.com] under their technical information section. The pdf file is pretty large as it contains removal instructions for every possible situation, from tile over slab, to sheet over plywood, which includes removing the plywood with it or saving the plywood. Each situation is only about 8 pages of instructions written at about a 3rd grade reading level.

I suggest cleaning it real well, taking off any wax, etc., then to scratch it up

That advice WILL release fibers!

The tile on the floor now will act as a great crack suppressant membrane

WHAT? You are kidding, right? Seriously, you are kidding, right? Vinyl as an ANSI recognized crack suppression? When did you make the switch from duct tape?

Here in California you must be certified to remove Asbestos unless it is 100 square feet or less but still follow all regulations.

Hey Leasure, there in California, even fruit sold at a road side stand comes with warning labels After 25 years of setting tile, stone and restoring old mosaics, my brother had to get out of there 3 years ago. He couldn't take it anymore.

Linda: "There was an installer in the past that removed some, the home owners went to sell the home, the inspector found the asbestos in the air, and the installer had to buy the house, and tear it down"

Now there's an interesting twist. I like to keep a file on such bizarre occurrences that take place in the flooring trades. Linda would you please post the source of this information so we can document your story. I want my information to be accurate and verifiable.

Moving right along Linda, as a certified asbestos abatement contractor I can tell you that no entity would ever suggest that anyone sand or grind or generously "scratch" any asbestos-containing product. This action would be very harmful to ones health and in fact technically illegal.

In addition Linda, show us where any of the industry recommendations make the claim that vinyl asbestos tile makes any kind of an isolation membrane. That is a little far-retched in my experience and could only lead to a floor tile failure over time.

Here in California you must be certified to remove Asbestos unless it is 100 square feet or less but still follow all regulations.

And Linda, how is it anyone would know that any given pile of broken vinyl asbestos floor tile on its way to disposal would constitute 100 square feet. That is asinine. Where does one go to be certified in estimating the square foot equivalent to a pile of floor tile rubble?

[Edited by Bud Cline Tile on Sat, Nov 7, 2009 at 4:26 pm CST]