How do i know if the basement floor tile has asbestos? The house was built in 1963.

1/10/2012 at 8:27:24 AM

Good morning Romeo,

Quite often difficult to know but if not sure handle them as if they contain asbestos.

VA (Vinyl Asbestos) tiles were used up to the 1980's. Asbestos tiles were commonly manufactured in 9-inch squares, but not all 9-inch square vinyl tiles manufactured before 1980 contain asbestos. Also depending how these tiles were installed the adhesives used up into the 70's had low concentrations of asbestos as well.

There are quite a few Ottawa companies that do testing and abatement of asbestos products and you could call them for advice and pricing of removal. They are in the yellow pages.

Thanks,

Dave

7/18/2012 at 6:36:04 PM

HI Romeo

I do these old style renovations all the time...I have them tested by a certified asbestos testing company in your area. Costs very little compared to end result.

In all of my cases anything I renovated prior to 1975 had asbestos in it...here are my recommendations.

1. Leave the tile alone and either go over it with new flooring

or

2. Call and absestos abatement contractor to remove it...here on the west coast I pay about $1 per sq foot of flooring to be removed.

You will have to vacate premises for 48 hours after removal...in my mind worth the money.

Ben