Covering Over Asbestos Flooring

If the tile is in good shape then covering it is one way of dealing with the issue.

Covering over asbestos flooring.

If you don t want that expense a rubber backed carpet is a good choice. If you must remove the 9x9 asbestos suspect flooring. You ve got two options for handling asbestos flooring tiles. Over time asphalt which was a main ingredient in asbestos tiles can degrade and cause the tiles to look grimy or discolored in spots.

Hey deltaskye thanks for your great question and welcome to the community. If you aren t removing the old floor you may be creating a new floor that is too thick for doors to open and shut or for thresholds to have clearance. Vinyl tile is an excellent option for sealing in asbestos tiles. Pouring concrete over tiles is the best way to seal them.

As noted above they can be covered with new flooring if the tiles are not disintegrating. In many cases installing a new floor over the tiles encapsulates the asbestos fibers and is an acceptable way to manage the material. Just like tom hd116 stated encapsulation and enclosure is really the best thing a homeowner can get sort of a professional abatement company to remove the tiles. One of the biggest factors of installing a new floor over the old is thickness.

However as a favor to future owners of your house make some note of the fact that asbestos tiles are under the new flooring. It is a thin solid flooring system that doesn t require adhesive and comes with a padded underlayment that helps smooth out any contour from the ceramic. That way no one will be endangered years from now when they start to rip up the new flooring and find asbestos tiles beneath. Flooring over asbestos tile.

You could also cover the tiles with new vinyl flooring linoleum or even ceramic tiles. If when you remove the rest of the current covering over the floor you find a significant number of loose poorly adhered or broken floor tiles or if for other reasons you are compelled to remove the floor not the recommended option see asbestos flooring removal guide. If the tile is damaged or breaking apart then that should be addressed because of the potential health hazard. Laminate flooring goes very well over ceramic tiles.

Laminate is a cheap fast flooring solution that easily goes right over ceramic tile. That said it can be difficult to get a level surface for the new floor especially if the old tiles have chipped away.