Vinyl Flooring Asbestos Identification

But the flooring companies aim wasn t so much to make the floor tiles fireproof as it was to make the tiles more durable.

Vinyl flooring asbestos identification.

T he flooring during this period was usually made in 9 inch squares and is quite a bit thicker than most of the modern vinyl tiles. Because asbestos was widely used before 1980 if you have flooring tiles that were installed before then you need to test a piece of the flooring to make sure it s safe. For about 35 years flooring companies included asbestos when they manufactured the vinyl tiles. 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.

This article describes sheet flooring products known to contain significant levels of asbestos. Asbestos is a mineral that lends fireproofing qualities to any substance it is mixed with. Between the 1920s and 1960s asbestos was a popular material used in floor tiles. Asbestos containing sheet flooring or resilient flooring product identification.

Asbestos tiles can be difficult to identify because you can t see the asbestos in the tile. Vinyl asbestos floor tiles were produced by a number of manufacturers and the decorative tile patterns were varied often annually as styles and tastes changed. For identification guides to all brands of asphalt asbestos vinyl asbestos and similar flooring products. What are asbestos floor tiles.