Asbestos Backed Vinyl Sheet Flooring

This type of flooring often has an asbestos backing that is considered friable and the fibres are easily released if the material is disturbed or damaged.

Asbestos backed vinyl sheet flooring.

Removing your asbestos backed sheet vinyl flooring. Such products some sold under the brand name solarian were installed as recently as 1980 long after governmental restrictions on asbestos were initiated. Asbestos vinyl sheet flooring can be more dangerous to remove than tiles if proper precautions are not practiced. This article describes sheet flooring products known to contain significant levels of 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. Details for identifying asbestos or asbestos suspect sheet flooring products are at resilient sheet flooring id guide. Asbestos vinyl sheet flooring has two layers a top layer of vinyl and a bottom layer made from paper that contains asbestos. But before about 1978 in products that looked like this same material asbestos fibers were used as a strengthen material on vinyl sheet flooring backing.

Dry asbestos particles are lighter than air wet ones are less prone to become air borne. Unfortunately vinyl sheet flooring manufactured with an asbestos backing poses a serious exposure risk when it is disturbed. Asbestos containing sheet flooring or resilient flooring product identification. Vinyl sheet flooring comes in large pieces and is usually cut to the size of the room and laid down in one piece.

The most dangerous of these products is asbestos vinyl sheet flooring. The removal procedures described in this publication address the removal of asbestos backed sheet vinyl only if. Additional guidance can be found in the how to safely remove asbestoscode of practice 2011. Rather than removing it consider installing a new floor directly on top of it.

Another possibility is to lay 1 4 inch underlayment on top of your existing floor and then lay new flooring on top of that. Asbestos backed sheet vinyl flooring was commonly installed in many ways including over hardwood softwood and concrete floors. We are told. Manufacturers often made this type of flooring with a friable asbestos backing which means asbestos fibres are easily released into the air if the sheet flooring is disturbed or damaged.

It also was installed over tongue and groove wood floors particleboard and plywood. Or if your existing flooring is in good condition your best option may be to simply. One armstrong world industries vinyl resilient sheet flooring product thought to have been installed in 1967 was tested in a lab and found to contain 70 percent asbestos.