Flooring Tile - Asbestos Tiles and a new wall

When I bought my house, my house inspector suspected the tile in the basement--now covered with wall to wall carpeting--contained asbestos. I am now considering building a new wall in the basement. Is it safe to nail through the frame, through the carpet, through the tile and into the concrete? If not, does anyone know of a way to attach the bottom of a wall to carpet (ie, some sort of strong adhesive)?

Thanks.

I dont think you need to concern yourself with the asbestos tiles as far as nailing through them. I wouldnt be putting a wall over the carpet though. I think you need to rethink that a little.

Don't put the wall on top of the carpet. If it's a glued down carpet, set what ever you'll be using as a bottom plate, IE two by four or two by six, on the carpet in the exact location it will be installed and use a felt pen to mark where it is on the carpet. Remove the board, cut the carpet with a good utility knife, and pull up the strip of carpet where the wall will be. If it's a strip and pad, stretched in floor, make the same marks on the carpet, remove the board, and cut the carpet and pad down the center of the marks, splitting the difference. Then peel the carpet and pad back to expose the floor. Install the wall and then either post back for carpet re-installation instructions or call an installer to do it. You want your wall solid with no settling and carpet as a foundation won't accommodate that.

Thanks to both. Smokey, you're opinion is that nailing through the asbestos tiles poses no risk, correct?

Thanks again.

Correct. You're just punching a hole in it.

Those screw-ball asbestos abatement companies have many homeowners paranoid about asbestos. It's a bunch of BULL. You are not sanding it and breathing the dust inside a contained area for 35 years.

BTW, the tiles are either asphalt tiles or vinyl asbestos tiles. If your house was built in the '60' or before, it's probably asphalt. They were usually 9x9"x1/8, and often installed in patterns containing both dark and medium colors. Dark colors were the cheapest. Vinyl asbestos was invented in the mid to late '50's. The first styles were also 9x9, but they were only 1/16" thick. Later 12" became the norm.

Jaz

I dunno Jaz, I've heard if ya grind the stuff up, breath it for days or weeks on end, feed a concentrated diet of it, and intravenously inject it for a year, it'll give a lab rat cancer. Doesn't that constitute a health risk?