Tiling Over Asbestos Floor Tiles

If you are hiring a flooring company they may be hesitant to work around asbestos tiles.

Tiling over asbestos floor tiles.

Damage to the asbestos tile may require a professional to safely remove the material. In many cases installing a new floor over the tiles encapsulates the asbestos fibers and is an acceptable way to manage the material. That way no one will be endangered years from now when they start to rip up the new flooring and find asbestos tiles beneath. However as a favor to future owners of your house make some note of the fact that asbestos tiles are under the new flooring.

Porcelain floors are extremely versatile and durable with tile sizes up to 24 inches available for a clean modern look with fewer grout lines. Flooring options to tile over asbestos tile. So after much reading on asbestos tile and due to my limited budget i ve decided to just cover them with traffic master floating laminate flooring but everyone i ve talked to has said they won t install the flooring with the asbestos tiles. Painting over asbestos tile is a safe way to cover up the material and seal in the asbestos as long as the tile is still intact.

Asbestos tile is only dangerous when it is broken up torn or crushed and fibers are released into the air which is when health risks for mesothelioma and other diseases become a danger. Some of the flooring tiles have come off and you see. Unlike many asbestos containing materials vinyl asbestos flooring is generally safe to be around. Vinyl is a type of plastic that has long been a popular material for floor tiles and sheets.

You could also cover the tiles with new vinyl flooring linoleum or even ceramic tiles. Asbestos is completely safe as long as it isn t disturbed. That said it can be difficult to get a level surface for the new floor especially if the old tiles have chipped away. The asbestos floor tile identification articles in this series illustrate that with the combination of design appearance and an idea of floor tile age many asbestos containing floor tiles or sheet flooring products can be reliably identified even before confirmation by a test by a certified asbestos testing laboratory.

You can also use other materials to cover up the asbestos flooring. But that changes as soon as you decide to remove it.