Covering Asbestos Tile With Laminate

If the floor is true linoleum damage does not present a danger of asbestos inhalation.

Covering asbestos tile with laminate.

Laminate flooring or luxury vinyl tiles are two good options because they float on the existing floor and don t need to be glued or nailed. The most common tiles that are positive are ones that measure 9 x 9. While those are the most common asbestos containing floor tiles many other tiles and floor coverings can be positive as well. In many homes the fiber insulation is painted to encapsulate the asbestos as long as it is left intact and covered to will be safe.

One of the best ways to deal with asbestos tile is to leave it in place and cover it with new flooring. If the existing floor is in good shape the cheapest easiest solution is to cover it. If your tiles are in perfect condition it s true that they could be removed but doing. With any voids filled a glued laminate will prevent any problems with asbestos.

If possible cover it with another layer of flooring. The old tiles are relatively thin around 1 8 inch thick so installing new flooring on top. I would fill the voids with self leveling mix 600 is quite a large area to do the entire floor and would be quite expensive. 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.

One of the biggest factors of installing a new floor over the old is thickness. 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. Many older resilient floors have cracks cuts and other damage. Asbestos only becomes an issue if particles become airborne.

If asbestos tiles are covered with carpeting or a floating floor made of wood bamboo cork linoleum or vinyl along with the appropriate vapor. You would need to level the floor for laminate. What most people tend to do with asbestos tile is cover it and forget it partly because professional abatement is so expensive and partly because the risks with tiles in good condition are low. Many tiles in older homes do contain asbestos and there is no way to tell just by looking.

Mastic that is black is also a tell tale sign. Vinyl tile is an excellent option for sealing in asbestos tiles. If you aren t removing the old floor you may be creating a new floor that is too thick for doors to open and shut or for thresholds to have clearance.