Vinyl and thermoplastic floor tiles, sheet vinyl and some lino products were made with asbestos, and so were the paper backings and bitumen adhesives underneath them. A kitchen floor of the right age is therefore three possible materials in one build up, and the one people forget is the backing paper, which is the most friable of the three and stays stuck to the screed when the covering lifts.
The three layers
The tile or sheet itself, usually with a low asbestos content bound in vinyl. The backing paper on sheet products, which can be a much higher content and is far more friable. And the bitumen adhesive bedding it to the floor. Each is sampled separately, because a negative on the tile says nothing about the paper underneath it.
Why old floors are left alone
An intact floor covering in good condition, or one covered with a new floating floor, is a normal and defensible way of managing the material. Lifting a bonded vinyl floor is the disturbance; laying over it is not. Where the floor is being lifted anyway, plan the removal properly rather than as an afternoon of scraping.
Lifting it properly
Tiles are lifted whole and cold rather than heated, ground or sanded, and the adhesive and backing paper are treated as their own material. Heat guns soften the bitumen and also drive off fumes; grinders turn the residue into dust. The waste is double wrapped and consigned, and the room is cleaned afterwards rather than swept.
Kitchens and bathrooms
These are the rooms where old floors survive under later coverings, often two or three layers deep. A refit is the moment they are found, usually by a fitter with a scraper. Sampling before the fitter arrives costs very little and saves the stoppage that follows an unexpected black adhesive bed.
Questions people ask about asbestos vinyl tile
Do asbestos floor tiles have to be removed before new flooring?
No. Laying over a sound floor is a recognised way of managing it, provided the decision is recorded so whoever lifts it next knows what is underneath.
Is the black glue under old tiles asbestos?
Bitumen adhesives were made with asbestos and are sampled as their own material. The colour tells you it is bitumen, not whether it contains asbestos.
What about lino?
Some linoleum and sheet vinyl carried asbestos in the product or in the backing paper. The backing is the layer that matters most and is the one most often missed.