Asbestos Vinyl Sheet Flooring

While asbestos is useful as a binding agent in the manufacture of vinyl and rubber floor coverings it isn t needed to make linoleum tiles or sheet flooring.

Asbestos vinyl sheet flooring.

Asbestos vinyl sheet flooring can be more dangerous to remove than tiles if proper precautions are not practiced. It also was installed over tongue and groove wood floors particleboard and plywood. The removal procedures described in this publication address the removal of asbestos backed sheet vinyl only if. Dry asbestos particles are lighter than air wet ones are less prone to become air borne.

Asbestos vinyl sheet flooring has two layers a top layer of vinyl and a bottom layer made from paper that contains asbestos. However you re not completely in the clear because asbestos was a common ingredient in the mastic used to hold these flooring materials to the subfloor. A majority of the vinyl flooring made before 1986 contained asbestos in the tiles or in the backing materials. Click here to read more.

Mixing asbestos into vinyl floor tiles made them more insulating and resistant to damage. Asbestos backed vinyl sheet flooring is where the backing the side attached to the floor see figure 1 contains friable easily broken asbestos material. We describe sources of asbestos in older forms of sheet flooring including felt backed flooring rubber backed flooring and vinyl cushion backed resilient flooring products. Asbestos vinyl sheet flooring poses a significantly greater asbestos exposure risk than floor tiles or wallpaper.

This fact sheet provides information regarding asbestos backed vinyl sheet flooring and vinyl tiles containing asbestos. What is asbestos backed vinyl sheet flooring. We are told that the paper layer can contain from 40 to 70 percent asbestos. We include research citations on asbestos use in sheet flooring backer materials.

Asbestos backed sheet vinyl flooring was commonly installed in many ways including over hardwood softwood and concrete floors. Unfortunately vinyl sheet flooring manufactured with an asbestos backing poses a serious exposure risk when it is disturbed. 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. It is possible to make a tentative identification of floor tiles based on the individual tile pattern color and thickness.

As with any asbestos containing material acm the first step to finding asbestos in linoleum sheet flooring and vinyl tiles is.