Designing Kitchens and Bathrooms - Asbestos under old floor
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Nurumkin
10-26-09, 10:17 PM
Ok I am pulling out the subfloor in a 1927 home I just bought and I would like to refinish the original wood floor under it. I am going to try and use the wood in the bathroom floor (I figure if it eventually gets ruined from the water I'll just tear it up and tile it like I would have anyway)
Well as I'm tearing up the new linoleum there is a layer of what I believe is original linoleum. Under this older floor is a tar paper like substance. I have read that there is asbestos in some of these old adhesives.
How can I tell if it is asbestos (if there is a way other then sending it off to be tested)? and if it is where exactly was the asbestos, basically what I'm asking is is there a danger if I am using a floor sander to sand down the floor when there is the black residue from this tar paper left on it?
Well as I'm tearing up the new linoleum there is a layer of what I believe is original linoleum. Under this older floor is a tar paper like substance. I have read that there is asbestos in some of these old adhesives.
How can I tell if it is asbestos (if there is a way other then sending it off to be tested)? and if it is where exactly was the asbestos, basically what I'm asking is is there a danger if I am using a floor sander to sand down the floor when there is the black residue from this tar paper left on it?
shane21
10-27-09, 12:21 AM
If you start sanding asbestos flooring then yes you are creating a health hazard. Asbestos is generally not all that dangerous until it is irritated and broken into small particles and blown into the air where it can be inhaled.
If you start sanding the floor and it contains asbestos you will be doing the one thing that makes it dangerous. I know in Ohio as of 5 years ago (when I removed an asbestos tile floor) a homeowner could remove asbestos and dispose of it using the normal curb service as long as you notified the city and told them when you would be throwing it away.
As for the removal, the best way to keep it from becoming a hazard is to keep it moist/wet so that it doesn't break apart and start releasing small particles into the air.
If you google the subject there are a few sites that actually list products that used asbestos (some by product name and date codes) to help you learn about your removal. Maybe someone has a test kit by now that is designed for residential diagnosis?
If you start sanding the floor and it contains asbestos you will be doing the one thing that makes it dangerous. I know in Ohio as of 5 years ago (when I removed an asbestos tile floor) a homeowner could remove asbestos and dispose of it using the normal curb service as long as you notified the city and told them when you would be throwing it away.
As for the removal, the best way to keep it from becoming a hazard is to keep it moist/wet so that it doesn't break apart and start releasing small particles into the air.
If you google the subject there are a few sites that actually list products that used asbestos (some by product name and date codes) to help you learn about your removal. Maybe someone has a test kit by now that is designed for residential diagnosis?
Claw Hammer
10-27-09, 07:48 AM
Asbestos was cheap and was used for many things, but I doubt if it was used as a floor underlayment.
I would carefully take it out, if you think that there was asbestos inside of it, I would go to a chemical analysis lab and have it analyzed.
I think that your fears are unsubstantiated and that you have nothing at all to worry about.
Take it all out, using some water to keep down the dust, if in fact you even have dust. Remove everything and use tile on the floor - because wood does not work for a bathroom floor.
I had some type of fake wood linoleum on the floor in my bedrooms when I bought my house and in the one room they used old newspapers to shim the floor to make it level and it came right out.
In the other room, they did not and it glued it's self to the floor and I chiseled for 3 days straight and couldn't get it out.
I ended up leaving it on the floor and I have plans to just use wall to wall carpeting.
I ran into the same problem when I went to have the slate roof removed. People screamed Asbestos, Asbestos, Asbestos.
I paid for the suits and the respirators and the workers found that once you put the shovel under the slate, they came off easier then anything they had ever done in their life and the whole roof was down in about 20 minutes.
The suits and respirators were in the dumpster in less then 10 because the workers were not used to wearing them and hyperventilated, and couldn't stand to have them on while they were working.
So $400 down the drain for silly people who thought that slate roofs were made of asbestos.
$400 to remove 6 square of slate... I should have done it myself. Come to think of it, I was the person that picked it all up while they worked. So I did do it myself.
I would carefully take it out, if you think that there was asbestos inside of it, I would go to a chemical analysis lab and have it analyzed.
I think that your fears are unsubstantiated and that you have nothing at all to worry about.
Take it all out, using some water to keep down the dust, if in fact you even have dust. Remove everything and use tile on the floor - because wood does not work for a bathroom floor.
I had some type of fake wood linoleum on the floor in my bedrooms when I bought my house and in the one room they used old newspapers to shim the floor to make it level and it came right out.
In the other room, they did not and it glued it's self to the floor and I chiseled for 3 days straight and couldn't get it out.
I ended up leaving it on the floor and I have plans to just use wall to wall carpeting.
I ran into the same problem when I went to have the slate roof removed. People screamed Asbestos, Asbestos, Asbestos.
I paid for the suits and the respirators and the workers found that once you put the shovel under the slate, they came off easier then anything they had ever done in their life and the whole roof was down in about 20 minutes.
The suits and respirators were in the dumpster in less then 10 because the workers were not used to wearing them and hyperventilated, and couldn't stand to have them on while they were working.
So $400 down the drain for silly people who thought that slate roofs were made of asbestos.
$400 to remove 6 square of slate... I should have done it myself. Come to think of it, I was the person that picked it all up while they worked. So I did do it myself.
spdavid
10-27-09, 09:42 AM
If what you found under the vinyl is roofing paper,commonly used under flooring,and it dates to before the late 1970's it is possible there is asbestos fiber in it.Asbestos fiber was commonly used in roofing materials until it was outlawed.As stated the only real danger in this is if you create an airborn dust.Otherwise the asbestos is locked into the material.
Testing is probably the only way to confirm if asbestos is in this or not.That said if you don't use any procedure that creates a dust to remove it then the danger is very low.
Testing is probably the only way to confirm if asbestos is in this or not.That said if you don't use any procedure that creates a dust to remove it then the danger is very low.