Backing Asbestos Vinyl Sheet Flooring

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.

Backing asbestos vinyl sheet flooring.

Highly resistant to grease and alkalies. Asbestos vinyl sheet flooring poses a significantly greater asbestos exposure risk than floor tiles or wallpaper. Or if your existing flooring is in good condition your best option may be to simply. Rather than removing it consider installing a new floor directly on top of it.

This will entail peeling the sheet vinyl from the flooring beneath if the backing does not separate in the process or removing the sheet vinyl in sections with the underlayment attached. The backing would be one suitable for use as a surface covering for example a felt perferably a rubber bonded asbestos backing a vinyl sheet backing a cellulosic felt or other backing which lendsitself to surface covering applications. However you re not completely in the clear because asbestos was a common ingredient in the mastic used to hold these flooring materials to the subfloor. Asbestos backed vinyl sheet flooring is where the backing the side attached to the floor see figure 1 contains friable easily broken asbestos material.

We are told. Many colors and designs. While asbestos is useful as a binding agent in the manufacture of vinyl and rubber floor coverings it isn t needed to make linoleum tiles or sheet flooring. Asbestos vinyl sheet backing.

I unknowingly tore up some. 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 vinyl sheet flooring can be more dangerous to remove than tiles if proper precautions are not practiced. Removing your asbestos backed sheet vinyl flooring.

Unfortunately vinyl sheet flooring manufactured with an asbestos backing poses a serious exposure risk when it is disturbed. Another possibility is to lay 1 4 inch underlayment on top of your existing floor and then lay new flooring on top of that. Asbestos vinyl sheet flooring has two layers a top layer of vinyl and a bottom layer made from paper that contains asbestos. Vinyl resin sheet flooring asbestos backed medium or heavy gauge.

Figure 1 asbestos backed vinyl sheet flooring. Examples of armstrong linoleum flooring linowall wall covering. The vinyl sheeting itself does not contain asbestos. Dry asbestos particles are lighter than air wet ones are less prone to become air borne.

The backing of the vinyl sheet didn t crumble or anything like that but it did separate when i ripped the sheet off the floor. Easy to keep clean.