Asbestos tiles look like ordinary tiles, which is the whole difficulty. Vinyl and thermoplastic floor tiles were made with and without asbestos in identical colours, patterns and sizes, and so were ceiling tiles. What is worth looking at is format, age and what is underneath, and none of that identifies anything: it tells you which tile is worth a sample.
What do asbestos floor tiles look like? The clues worth having
Nine inch squares are more often suspect than modern sizes, because that imperial format dates the tile. A black tarry adhesive bed underneath is a companion clue, and the adhesive is its own material. Brittleness and a slightly chalky broken edge are sometimes noted. Colour and pattern tell you nothing at all: the same tile came in marbled cream, red, green and grey.
Ceiling tiles
Suspended ceiling tiles from the middle of the last century were sometimes made with asbestos, and they look like any other mineral tile in a grid. The tile above the grid and the material of the grid itself are different questions, and what is in the void above them is a third. A ceiling of the right age is worth sampling before anything is lifted for cabling.
Why pictures of asbestos floor tiles do not settle it
Every photograph on the internet of an asbestos floor tile has a twin that contains none. Nobody can see a fibre, the products were made identically, and the fibre content of a tile is low enough that the surface gives nothing away. A picture is a prompt to sample, and it is never an answer.
What to do instead
Sample the tile and, separately, the adhesive under it. Two analyses, two certificates, and a decision you can act on. If the floor is sound and staying, record it and cover it. If it is coming up, use the certificates to get comparable quotes rather than guesses.
Asbestos vinyl floor tiles, and the adhesive under them
The tile is the product people look for and the black bitumen adhesive is usually the one with more asbestos in it, which is why a floor that has already been lifted is a bigger job than one that is intact. Both are bonded materials and both are stable underfoot. Work is what changes that: scraping the residue, sanding a floor flat for vinyl, or lifting tiles with a hot air gun all release fibre from the glue rather than the tile. So the sequence on any suspect floor of that age is a sample of BOTH the tile and the adhesive, because a clear result on one says nothing about the other.
Other questions people ask
How do I identify asbestos floor tiles?
Format and age raise the question. A laboratory analysis of a piece of the tile answers it, and the adhesive underneath is sampled separately.
Are all nine inch tiles asbestos?
No. The size dates the tile rather than identifying it, and plenty of imperial format tiles contain none.
Can I check a ceiling tile the same way?
Yes, and the void above should be looked at while the tile is out, because insulating board and lagging frequently live up there.
How do you recognise old asbestos floor tiles?
By size, colour and what is under them rather than by anything on the surface. The common ones are nine inch square, sometimes eight or twelve, in muted browns, greens, reds and greys with a mottled or marbled pattern, laid on a black bitumen adhesive that is often more of a problem than the tile. A nine inch tile in a house of the right age is a good reason to sample rather than to guess, because the modern vinyl tile is metric and rarely that size. Neither the tile nor the glue is dangerous while it is stuck down and intact; lifting, breaking, sanding or scraping is what releases fibre.
Are old floor tiles asbestos, or only some of them?
Some, and age and size are the clues. Thermoplastic and vinyl asbestos tiles were common until the late 1980s, typically nine inches square, in mottled browns, greens and greys, and often laid on a black bitumen adhesive that contains more asbestos than the tile. Later metric tiles, and anything laid since 2000, are almost certainly not. Nothing is confirmed by eye, and the reason to know before work starts is that the tile and the glue are both stable while stuck down and both release fibre when scraped, sanded or broken.
What does removing asbestos tiles involve?
Lifting them whole where possible rather than breaking them, keeping them damp, and dealing with the adhesive, which is the part people forget: the black bitumen under the tile often contains more asbestos than the tile, and scraping or sanding it dry is the worst thing that can be done in the room. Non licensed removal is common for tiles in good condition with a notification not required, and the waste is double bagged and labelled for a licensed carrier. Covering the floor with ply or a screed and leaving them in place is legitimate, cheaper, and belongs on the register.