concrete floor sealer? to prevent damp before laying vinyl tiles

Hi, i will soon be laying karndean vinyl floor planks in my house, it is a 1946 semi and i am concerned whether it has a dpm under the concrete floor, it has old black tiles down at the moment which i found under the carpet not sure what they are made of but they are brittle and blown on the corners (white dust around the edges), they seem quite well fixed to the concret floor, it looks there is bitumen on some of the tiles, does anyone know the likelihood of ther e being a dpm under the concrete for this age of house. I dont have any damp problems other than the white dust around the edges of these old tiles, which i think is due to damp of some sort, and i dont want to lay new floor without treating the concret first. would bitumen do the job if i spread sand over the top before i put self level compound down?

Im planning to lift the tiles ,self level with latex, and lay the floor with pressure sensitive adhesive. do i need to prime the concrete before latex if so what with? and then do i need to prime the latex before the adhesive? Also can i lay the latex in two parts ( i have all downstairs to do)or does it need to go down all at once. Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks

Reply to
jim
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ASBESTOS ALERT THE TILE AND ADHESIVE BOTH PROBABLY CONTAIN ASBESTOS:(

probably no waterproof membrane either..........

Reply to
hallerb

So what?

Reply to
HeyBub

Why go to the trouble of removing the tiles?

Can't you just level what you've got an cover the result with the new flooring?

Reply to
HeyBub

Forgot to add. The floor is likely cool. That means any moisture in the air will condense there. What you see may well be from condensation.

Reply to
Joseph Meehan

As noted, beware of asbestos. Also any moisture issues need to be addressed by keeping the water away. You need to keep it away from the OUTSIDE of the foundation.

Reply to
Joseph Meehan

Hmmm, yes i could have levelled on top of old tiles, but i have taken half of them up now, erm asbestos! wish id known before hand, they are coming up easy with a rotary stop chiseller, but if they contain asbestos then i have most certainly inhaled some :((. Local builders yard told me to paint bitumen on concrete then levelling compound then tiles. Does this sound ok?

Reply to
jim

Look on the bright side - you no longer have to floss.

Reply to
HeyBub

The white dust is probably from the carpet adhesive - fiber to backing. If the old tile is 9" square it is highly likely it is asbestos tile. If it is 12" tile, it could be but probably not. Asbestos is like many other "hazardous" materials. If 100 people had the same exposure, much less than 10% would be affected. It all depends on how your body reacts to it.

Reply to
Bob

Yes they are 9" . The white dust is the concrete and it is around the edges of the tiles i think it is where moisture from the air has got to the concrete between the gaps. The concrete is actually very dry, i just want to make sure it stays dry. Oh well i may as well take up smoking. :))

Reply to
jim

Ok there are ways to take the tiles up safely. First you dont want to destroy the old tiles and making them into powder. That makes it airborne. What you can do is scrape them up with a scraper. If they are old and the adhesive is crap then they just pop up. Oh and by the way... The adhesive can contain asbestos too. I would spray the tiles down with some water to keep airborne nasties to a minumum. A good dust mask is good idea too. (respirator is normally recommended)

I would use a good fan in the window (blowing out) and seal off the area to make some negative pressure... This is so the crap doesnt spread to the rest of the house.

Take the old tiles, put them into boxes and seal them well. Give the garbage men a nice tip and let them take it away!

Now the problem you have is the old adhesive on the floor. Home Depot and Lowes do make solvents that break that stuff down and make it mushy. Its pretty easy to scrape it up. Once the floor is clean and most if not all the adhesive is up I would use a nice adhesive from HD or lowes to make those vinyl tiles stick well. If the flooring is not level, the do make stuff to help with that and make it flat.

H> Yes they are 9" . The white dust is the concrete and it is around the

Reply to
tksirius

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