Asbestos testing in NJ

Abate the asbestos professionally. You're playing with your life, and it's not a quick, pleasant death at the end. Seriously.

-S

If you cover it up, and then go to sell the home, you must disclose to any potential buyer the fact that there's asbestos. Look in the yellow pages under 'Asbestos Removal & Abatement Services".

There may be asbestos in the mastic used to fasten down the tile as well as the tile. Professional abatement is not cheap. However, if the tile is coming up, it needs to be removed. TB

It's cheaper than 18 months in a hospital. Or a casket.

-S

"Abate the asbestos professionally. You're playing with your life, and

it's not a quick, pleasant death at the end. Seriously. "

Before she starts with abatement, don;'t you think it would be a good idea to find out if she even has asbestos in the tiles, which was the question she was asking? And if she does have asbestos in floor tiles, they generally don't present a health hazard unless you start smashing them up. Simplest solution would be to cover them up with a new layer of flooring.

An asbestos abatement company can test it for her. If they come out and take a sample to their lab, and it isn't asbestos, then she has documented proof. If it is, and she covers it up, and goes to sell the place, she'll have to disclose it to a buyer, and they will most likely want it removed. If it's asbestos, she should not cover it up.

"An asbestos abatement company can test it for her. "

I'd much rather send a sample myself to a lab that has no vested interest in abatement. That is the legitimate question she was asking. It's certainly not unheard of for companies to find problems to fix that don't exist. That is the legitimate question she was asking.

"If they come out and take a sample to their lab, and it isn't asbestos, then she has documented proof. If it is, and she covers it up, and goes to sell the place, she'll have to disclose it to a buyer, and they will most likely want it removed. If it's asbestos, she should not cover it up. "

Do you know what asbestos abatement companies do in many cases? They don't necessarily remove asbestos. In many cases they simply encapsulate asbestos that is there so that it can't come loose and enter the air. Covering an existing floor does exactly that. And if she does that, it's not clear to me that she needs to disclose anything to a future buyer.

There is an alternative: Encapsulation Place a new floor system over the existing without testing or removing the existing. This was done in a family housing area by the Navy: Nail down plywood sub floor & new floor finish over vinyl asbestos tile and asbestos containing mastic. TB

I recently sent in samples of the InsulBrick siding on my house for testing. I got the test kit at an Ace Hardware, the total cost for the test was less than $20 and took about a week.

Dennis

They made floor tiles with asbestos?

Some of the old tiles has some asbestos fiber in them. They were really not very hazardous as it was encapsulated Contact with asbestos is not a problem at all. You can bath in it as long as you don't breath in the fibers.

Before you spread dire predictions of death and doom, do some research and find out what asbestos can and cannot do, how it can be easily and safely abated.

Asbestos in the tile is encapsulated and not a harm at all to anyone handling it. It is only a potential hazard if it is made friable and you breath it in. Removing the tiles in a proper manner is perfectly safe and contact is not a problem at all. It is perfectly safe and legal to remove and dispose of the tiles in a landfill. IIRC, they should be wrapped in a plastic bag, but no other special precautions are needed.

If the tiles are solid, just go over them with another type of flooring. If loose, remove them first following the proper guidelines. Ed

My best friend has asbestos cancer. He was a school teacher and walked on asbestos tile for 30 years.

You should skip the testing, which costs money and creates legal obligations for you that you don't need, and just assume that as far as you're concerned, they're asbestos, and as far as the state is concerned, the question never occurred to you.

I dunno how you go about getting the old tile up, although Shovelling dry ice across the floor and then whacking things with a mallet has been suggested,

but Afterwards, poured epoxy flooring will cover the remains of the glue and be a fairly permanent encapulation.

1. Bob Jan 13, 11:50 am

"My best friend has asbestos cancer. He was a school teacher and walked on asbestos tile for 30 years. "

That doesn't prove that it was caused by floor tile. He may have had other exposure that he was not even aware of. The best medical and scientific advice based on not one case, but studies of millions of health records, is if the tile is intact, it's not a problem.

Yup. If it looks like vinyl tile, but it throws sparks when you try to drill through it with a hole-saw, it's probably vinyl-asbestos.

But what was the cause? It may have been from some other source. He may have been exposed to insulation being removed as a child, it could have been many other things over the past 30+ years. Walking on tile does not cause cancer, but breathing it in does. Old building were loaded with asbestos on ceiling, heating pipes, etc. More information needed, but in any case, I wish him the best dealing with it.

Almost all tile made before '85 contained asbestos. Put on a dust mask. Use a heat gun to soften the tiles, peel them up, put them in a bag, and throw them away. Try not to break any. Wet mop the floor when you're done. Then never worry about it again.

Yes, the black stuff underneath could also contain asbestos. Don't worry about that either. Put your new floor on top and forget it's there.

Unless you grind the tiles off with a drum sander or something, they won't harm you.

-rev

What is poured epoxy flooring? Can I just glue another layer of new vinyl tiles over existing ones? Will this encapsulate enough existing floor? I would like a solution that is relatively easy and inexpensive. I don't care about new floor look. Again, 40% of tiles popped up and they pop up constantly when I roll around heavy stationary tools (table saw, jointer, etc.) in my workshop. I also need new floor good enough to be able to roll around tools. My house is 55 years old, I am the third owner. Previous owner lived in the house since mid-1980 in period after asbestos was banned. Unfortunately when I was buying a house I didn't ask previous owner if it was him to put the titles. If it was him the titles most likely do not contain asbestos. If it was an original owner they may. If testing is really easy and affordable enough I would rather test titles between putting another floor. Also I am not going to sell my house in another two centuries at least so what I worry about is health hazards for me and my family and less about its impact on house sale.