how to cover asbestos tile

[Jim]

I bought and old apartment building and in the kitchen is what I think is asbestos tile..I would like to cover it with 12x12 vinyl tile.....how does one do this?

thanks in advance Jim

[Goedjn]

If the tile is in decent shape, don't mess with it. Otherwise, use a poured epoxy floor.

[Java Man (Espressopithecus)]

You should say "doesn't disturb it at all". It is only safe when it is completely encapsulated and undisturbed.

20 years ago I organized a medical monitoring program for a group of workers who had been exposed to airborne asbestos over the previous 30 years in a natural gas-fired power plant when insulation was being installed. We interviewed the workers and checked their employment records, where they had worked in the plant, doing what, and for how long. We classified their exposure into several categories ranging from occasional light to frequent heavy. We tested their lung function, did x-rays, and followed them into retirement. Several died from diseases caused by asbestos exposure, including some who had only "light- occasional" exposure.

Even a little bit of asbestos can be too much.

Rick

[BeamGuy]

And how many died because they were so worried about some asbestos tiles under the linoleum that they drove through a red light straight into a gasoline tanker truck?

[Java Man (Espressopithecus)]

I was responding to the statement:

"Tearing up vinyl asbestos tile is considered a bad idea, but covering it with anything else should be just fine if it doesn't disturb it unduly."

Encapsulated asbestos poses no danger. But when one releases asbestos fibres into the air by cutting, drilling, etc, there is a risk. If that risk can be avoided, it should be. Breathing in just one fibre of the wrong kind of asbestos is enough to cause mesothelioma, which is inevitably fatal.

Perhaps I'm overly concerned, but following the lives of people who have been exposed to airborne asbestos, and seeing how many died from that exposure, will do that to you. When we can control our exposure by taking simple precautions, it's wise to do so.

Rick