Removing Vinyl Asbestos Tile
Is it safe for my family to stay in the house when a vinyl tile flr (basement) containing asbestos is removed?
My contractor told me, inorder for the County to give as the permit for demolition for my second floor addition to my house, we need to removed the vinyl tile floor in my basement (15 x 20 area), because it’s contaminated with asbestos. My contractor will do it by himself and will put everything in a double bag and will hire a disposal co. to disposed it. How safe are we in staying in the house after they removed it? We will be staying in the house for another 1-2 Months before they do the actual construction.
The contractor must hire a licenced firm to take out the tile and dispose of it. If he does it by himself without a licence, you should fire him and probably report him. You cannot be in the house while the work is taking place, but a qualified crew shouldn’t need more than a couple of days to finish a home job. After the work is done, there is no problem being in the house. The whole point of having a company come remove it is that it is gone! There will be no dust or any other traces of it if they do their job right.
I worked for a school district and several buildings had asbestos in them, including the vinyl floor tile. The asbestos was used as a lubricant during the manufacturing process. It’s really quite an amazing material besides the killing people part. The problem lies in the inhalation. Small particles enter your lungs and cause tiny cuts inside the lungs themselves. These will heal, but it is impossible to remove the particles so coughing and sneezing move them about causing more damage over and over. The asbestos in tile is not “safe” but is not a threat unless it is drilled or pulverized in some way. There are thousands of buildings across the country with this same tile and there are no concerns except for those mentioned. After it is removed, live in your house with no concerns for the asbestos
May 26th, 2010 at 8:25 am
I haven’t seen them, and I plan to do my best not to see them. That broad is UGLY!!