What to do with possible asbestos tile floors?

[Anonymous]

We have tiles (probably the kind that used mastic/glue with asbestos).

I've have searched high and low for a company that can either:

1. Encapsulate the tiles;
2. Remove the tiles and replace them.

Can anyone recommend a company in Maryland or DC that can do this?

I would like to replace the floors with smooth concrete.

[Anonymous]

Leave them.

[Anonymous]

Cover

[Anonymous]

Just put something else over them. Why disturb the asbestos?

[Anonymous]

Don’t touch them. Learn to love them.

[Anonymous]

We covered them with floor leveler ourselves. If the tile is in good shape you can just lay any kind of floor over them. There is zero need for removal.

[Anonymous]

how old is your floor? and how do you know if you have asbestos?

[Anonymous]

You probably have, what, a 10x10 space of those 8in by 8 in tiles? You can just cover them with new flooring.

What no one wants to say is that the danger is in their destruction. Not a simple crack, but like grinding or sanding them down. Popping them up intact, which is done easily….well, I’m not going to say anything else. Ahem.

[Anonymous]

I will say my mother pulled up an entire basement of 1940s black asbestos tiles, back in the 70s when my parents bought the house. She is now 80, in perfect health.

I do understand why people are nervous around asbestos. In your case I would lay LVP over them and forget they exist. Asbestos are incredibly solid and not a danger as long as you don't move them. People have been scared into fearing them more than they need to. Asbestos tiles are a danger when they are being pulled up not from the tiles but from the mastic glue being disturbed. As for the tiles themselves, they can be a danger when they become friable enough, but I do recall an Asbestos tile remover confess in all his years he had only encountered truly friable conditions once. Just once.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I will say my mother pulled up an entire basement of 1940s black asbestos tiles, back in the 70s when my parents bought the house. She is now 80, in perfect health.

I do understand why people are nervous around asbestos. In your case I would lay LVP over them and forget they exist. Asbestos are incredibly solid and not a danger as long as you don't move them. People have been scared into fearing them more than they need to. Asbestos tiles are a danger when they are being pulled up not from the tiles but from the mastic glue being disturbed. As for the tiles themselves, they can be a danger when they become friable enough, but I do recall an Asbestos tile remover confess in all his years he had only encountered truly friable conditions once. Just once.

Just about every grandparent and parent in the 60s and beyond did what your mother did.

The people who got mesothelioma are the people who worked in shipyards, old-school plumbers, etc.

[Anonymous]

We talked to a million people about this and ended up covering it with a floating wood floor.

[Anonymous]

We covered them as well, after having multiple companies out to look at them. It actually seemed like the safest option.

[Anonymous]

Asbestos tiles are a danger when they are being pulled up not from the tiles but from the mastic glue being disturbed. As for the tiles themselves, they can be a danger when they become friable enough, but I do recall an Asbestos tile remover confess in all his years he had only encountered truly friable conditions once. Just once.

This.

If one wants to remove, then hire a well-trained specialist asbestos removal company to do it, to encapsulate the work area during removal, and to carefully clean up any dust afterwards. This will cost $$$.

It only costs $ to lay some other floor on top, provided one does not use nails or screws that would go into the asbestos tile.

[Anonymous]

Ours are in the basement, and we covered them with carpet. Keeps our feet warm. In the basement bathroom, covered them over with penny tile

[Anonymous]

Do you need to disclose their presence after you cover them when you try to sell the house?