Identifying Asbestos Floor Tiles

Between the 1920s and 1960s asbestos was a popular material used in floor tiles.

Identifying asbestos floor tiles.

The definitive way to find out if tiles contain asbestos is to have them tested. Asbestos tiles can be difficult to identify because you can t see the asbestos in the tile. T he flooring during this period was usually made in 9 inch squares and is quite a bit thicker than most of the modern vinyl tiles. Because asbestos was widely used before 1980 if you have flooring tiles that were installed before then you need to test a piece of the flooring to make sure it s safe.

With that in mind here are the keys to identifying asbestos floor tiles. Gather information about the age of the tiles. You can either engage an asbestos remediation expert or obtain a test kit for. Asbestos is actually a silicate based material that used to be commonly used in building construction for surfaces as common as walls or floor tiles.

The risk for many people who live or work in buildings with old flooring is that it s hard to know if the building has asbestos floor tiles just by looking. Asbestos flooring was made into the 1980s though its heyday was the 1920s through the 1960s. If you know when the building was built or renovated this might help you estimate when the tiles were installed.