Asbestos Backed Vinyl Sheet Flooring

This type of flooring often has an asbestos backing that is considered friable and the fibres are easily released if the material is disturbed or damaged.

Asbestos backed vinyl sheet flooring.

This article describes sheet flooring products known to contain significant levels of asbestos. Asbestos vinyl sheet flooring has two layers a top layer of vinyl and a bottom layer made from paper that contains asbestos. Like floor tiles vinyl sheet flooring is a long lasting and economical material and it also offers more aesthetic options to suit a homeowner s taste. Asbestos containing sheet flooring or resilient flooring product identification.

Asbestos vinyl sheet flooring can be more dangerous to remove than tiles if proper precautions are not practiced. Manufacturers often made this type of flooring with a friable asbestos backing which means asbestos fibres are easily released into the air if the sheet flooring is disturbed or damaged. We are told. Unfortunately vinyl sheet flooring manufactured with an asbestos backing poses a serious exposure risk when it is disturbed.

Removing your asbestos backed sheet vinyl flooring. Additional guidance can be found in the how to safely remove asbestoscode of practice 2011. Another possibility is to lay 1 4 inch underlayment on top of your existing floor and then lay new flooring on top of that. Rather than removing it consider installing a new floor directly on top of it.

Such products some sold under the brand name solarian were installed as recently as 1980 long after governmental restrictions on asbestos were initiated. Asbestos vinyl sheet flooring poses a significantly greater asbestos exposure risk than floor tiles or wallpaper. One armstrong world industries vinyl resilient sheet flooring product thought to have been installed in 1967 was tested in a lab and found to contain 70 percent asbestos. Details for identifying asbestos or asbestos suspect sheet flooring products are at resilient sheet flooring id guide.

The most dangerous of these products is asbestos vinyl sheet flooring. It also was installed over tongue and groove wood floors particleboard and plywood. Or if your existing flooring is in good condition your best option may be to simply. Asbestos backed sheet vinyl flooring was commonly installed in many ways including over hardwood softwood and concrete floors.

Where asbestos backed vinyl sheet flooring is to be removed it must only be removed by an a class asbestos removal licence holder in accordance with the workplace health and safety regulation 2011. Vinyl sheet flooring comes in large pieces and is usually cut to the size of the room and laid down in one piece. Dry asbestos particles are lighter than air wet ones are less prone to become air borne.