Hello,
Thanks in advance for help, wonder if I can get some advice.

I wanted to tile the concrete kitchen floor in my newly bought 1950s house. Under the lino (but not under the units) I've come across some thin blue plastic'y brittle tiles with a thin bitumen layer on the back. This left a residue on the floor with the one tile I tried to lift.

From what I can gather, these are thermoplastic tiles, and I'm reading scare stories on the internet that they could have had asbestos in them.

Obviously I'd use a mask to remove any such tiles, but is this still too risky? I've tiled smaller areas in other houses before but don't really want to mess up my first kitchen ... although the thought of sticking with lino makes me cringe.

If safe to remove the tiles, should I try to clear the residue as much as possible (how?) and then cover with a priming layer (BAL Bond or something similar?)

Many thanks for your time, much appreciated.
Glen

Hi Glen..if you're worried about asbestos, you should be able to contact/take a sample to your local council and get their advice as to whether the tiles contain asbestos, how safe it is to remove them and whether you should get a specialist in to remove them..assuming it's ok to remove them yourself, I'd lift them up and then scrape/grind/sand off the residue before priming the substrate ready for tiling...

If they do contain Asbestos, a mask won't be enough, as the particles will just move about the room/house as you break the tiles, and you'll just breath them in at a later date. As Daveboy says, get a sample tested, and take it from there.

I would go with what dave says!! Take a sample/tile to the council for testing(Put it in a sealed bag) When you know if it contains asbestos or not and you want more advise just post on here and everyone will be happy to help with advise..

Seek further advice if you think there is a risk of asbestos, its not something ive considered before. If there was a bit of the sticky residue left i'd self level over it to leave a nice surface to tile on.

as above be carful dont think i would grind

Thermo plastic floor tiles present one of the lowest risks of any asbestos containing product, safest route to remove them is wear disposable overalls and a half face mask and lift the tiles with a scraper and double bag the waste for specialsit disposal. It is virtually impossible to get a fibre release from a thermo plastic floor tile and this material is non notifibale.

With any bitumen coating left you can scrape this or alternatively screed over it and leave insitu.

The main thing with the tiles is disposal and a local registered waste carrier would collect them for a small charge or if your lucky your local council will accept bonded asbestos waste from householders on certain days at some of their tips, you can book in advance and this is free of charge.

Gentlemen,

Thanks for your advice, very much appreciated. Yes I've read up and it seems they are the lowest risk of asbestos, and there's only a 1% chance they have asbestos in ... but you cannot be too careful.

Will try to ring up the council as well, good advice to bag a sample.

I've booked a couple of estimates, and will ask the professional's opinion(*) before lifting them anyway. Factoring in the reduction the professionals get on the tiles, it may be worth my while getting them to do it... and I can get on with the easy jobs like painting 5 rooms...

(*) Followed the advice given here, and went to my local 'Topps' chain, they were happy to recommend a couple personally from the card selection they had and I assume you wouldn't do that if people came back to complain about quality.

All the best,

Glen

Hi all,

Just a quick update, Croydon Council won't help (it's not LA or ex-LA) and London Borough Asbestos Line is a recorded answerphone message that says 'contact your local borough'... oh well, at least i haven't started paying Council Tax on it yet ;>)

Will wait to see what the tilers I've got coming round think - I'd imagine they would have seen it before. To be honest, I wouldn't have even been alarmed if the tiles came up in one piece, but it's the odd brittleness of them that made me think...

Once I get the outcome, I'll maybe post a picture (at which point we can all laugh at the amateur mistake ;>) but seriously I know there is asbestos in the property as the garage roof is made from it, so better to be safe.

Thanks again, Glen

hi Glen,

Please do not hesitate to register with us and keep us updated of your future progress with your tiling project. We all have to start somewhere

GRR

Did you know that every week...

• 3 plumbers die
• 20 tradesmen die
• 6 electricicans die
• 6 joiners die

...all from this hidden killer.


How to deal with it on sites etc …
HSE - Asbestos: Asbestos essentials


my mate Tom has asbestosis - personally i wouldnt go near the stuff.