Mesothelioma Lawyers San Diego, Find a Mesothelioma Cancer Lawyer

Can older ceramic floor tiles contain asbestos?

And if they do, how do you remove them safely? We are thinking about putting in a new kitchen and I have been told that some older floor tiles contain asbestos. We estimate this floor to be about 30 years old as it looks very “70’s”. Going over the tile is not an option as This is the second or third floor already.

It is unlikely that the tile has asbestos in any significant amount. Asbestos is naturally occurring, and it is a “ceramic fiber” material, but if it is encapsulated in the ceramic body it is EXTREMELY unlikely that it will become airborne, and thus hazardous.

What is more likely is that the insulation beneath the floor, i.e. the substrate has asbestos, since it was commonly used as an insulator prior to the common use of fibreglass.

Since you said that the tile was the second floor, chances are the insulation (if any) is beneath the original floor. Just take out the tile, but leave the underlying floor in place. that will save you the headache of going through abatement should there be asbestos.

In reality, though, if you do take out the first floor layer and find asbestos insulation underneath, all you really need to do is LEAVE IT IN PLACE! I know for a fact that asbestos abatement causes more health risks than just leaving it in place. Just keep the area moist (not wet mind you) so that you don’t kick up any dust, and reinstall the floor as quickly and completely as possible.

What you may try to do is WEAR RESPIRATORS while the floor is torn up and reinstalled. Tape over all the windows and doors except for one which will have a window fan pointing out. That way you are extracting air instead of blowing it around the room.

Skin contact with asbestos is not dangerous. It is only if you inhale it.

Oh, and by the way. Asbestos is only dangerous if inhaled in LARGE QUANTITIES. The likelihood of anyone getting asbestosis from redoing their kitchen floor is minimal. I would use caution, but i would not be too concerned about it. The above steps are just smart precautions, not really a “do-this-or-risk-getting-cancer” scenario.

Related Sites

Tags: asbestos, flooring, greenbuilding, remodeling

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 6th, 2009 at 7:51 am and is filed under Lawyer Mesothelioma Settlement. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.