Asbestos Sheet Vinyl

Asbestos containing vinyl based sheet flooring product photos.

Asbestos sheet vinyl.

I don t recognize that exact flooring pattern jack and am guessing it s an early 1980s vinyl sheet flooring. Old vinyl products that contain asbestos remain in many buildings across the u s creating a hazard for contractors and do it yourself renovators. Before you begin the project to remove old vinyl flooring in your home you need to determine if the flooring contains asbestos. Unfortunately vinyl sheet flooring manufactured with an asbestos backing poses a serious exposure risk when it is disturbed.

The resilient sheet flooring shown at above left is a modern product we are using this photo as a placeholder and does not contain asbestos. Asbestos backed sheet vinyl flooring was commonly installed in many ways including over hardwood softwood and concrete floors. 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. Vinyl is a type of plastic that has long been a popular material for floor tiles and sheets.

Asbestos vinyl sheet flooring has two layers a top layer of vinyl and a bottom layer made from paper that contains asbestos. We are told that the paper layer can contain from 40 to 70 percent asbestos. Asbestos containing sheet flooring or resilient flooring product identification. Asbestos vinyl flooring was a durable and economical material that offered many aesthetic options to suit a homeowner s taste.

Asbestos vinyl sheet flooring can be more dangerous to remove than tiles if proper precautions are not practiced. Working with asbestos flooring can release toxic dust. Removing old vinyl flooring techniques. Asbestos was used in vinyl wallpaper from the 1920s and in the vinyl floor tiles and sheet flooring that rose to prominence in the 1950s.

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. 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. Vinyl floor tiles or sheet flooring were made or installed before 1986 should be treated as a floor covering presumed to contain asbestos or else have a sample tested and report the results here please. This article describes sheet flooring products known to contain significant levels of asbestos.

It also was installed over tongue and groove wood floors particleboard and plywood.