Broken Asbestos Vinyl Tiles

[Moonhead]

Hi all

We're planning on pulling up the living room carpet in our old house (late 1800s).
I've pulled the corner up by the hearth to see what was beneath and there's some charming blue 50/60s vinyl tiles. They're pretty bashed about and I pulled the corner up from the other side of the room and there aren't any in the couple of square feet I lifted, which would suggest that someone had a rough go at removing them at some point.

What should I do with them? Everything online says if they are broken then removal is the only way, is this the health and safety brigade gone mad? Can I just stick cement board down over the top to level and then tile over it, or is that too flippant? For now, the carpet's gone back down to be worried about another time - especially if I have to pay a removal firm to remove a few tiles.

Cheers

 

[Bonni]

Do one of two things. Go to your hardware merchants, buy a mask for asbestos, pull the tiles up, double bag them and take them to your local council recycling centre.

Or, just overboard them.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

You can't buy a mask for asbestos as such - what is needed is a P3 dust mask

As it happens the standard advice on discovering asbestos is not to remove it or disturb it unless absolutely necessary as this is what puts the potentially harmful fibres into the air - instead it is always better to note where it is and encapsulate it. So cement board works well as it is not only flat and smooth, but it also has insulating properties

In terms of dealing with dust from asbestos it should absolutely never be vacuumed up with a domestic vacuum cleaner - the fibres are so small (much thinner than a human hair, in fact so thin that the human eye cannot really resolve them) that they are easily capable of passing through a HEPA filter. Which turns the vacuum cleaner into fibre blower which will redistribute them over quite an area. If you do need to handle the stuff you need you wear disposable coveralls, disposable gloves, plastic bags over your footwear (taped at the ankles) and a P3 mask (goggles are a hood idea, too) - and most importantly you need to damp down the areas where you are removing the stuff.

Any workwear or PPE used in handling asbestos is regarded as contaminated and should be carefully bagged and disposed of in the same way that asbestos is. Most councils require that the waste is double bagged in asbestos waste bags that they supply (at a price) and which are clearly marked as containing asbestos waste (my local council did natty red bags lastvtime I bought some), so not any old bags, and they will collect them separately, so don't put them in the general household waste as that can result in a hefty fine

 

[Moonhead]

Reckon I'll want one, even if I just overboard them? Seeing as they're broken?

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Reckon I'll want one, even if I just overboard them? Seeing as they're broken?

Yes, good idea, and if you need to cut cement board you'll discover how useful a mask is for that, too (it is horribly disty to saw or cut with a grinder)

Damping down is the best way to control any dust on the floor

 

[Moonhead]

The missus suggested I get a proper respirator anyway after a few brown trousers moments, ripping up flooring, drilling ceilings and one particular time when I accidentally pulled half my neighbours asbestos shed roof into our garden moving an ivy bush to one side to get a fence panel out. I'll do a buy before I pull the carpet up properly.

 

[Tigercubrider]

any precautions are better than none but tiles are possibly the least dangerous risk in a home.
You could lift them if you must, just make sure that it's nice and damp, bordering on wet.
Bag immediately and double bag.
There's a very small amount of asbestos involved, not of the worst type

 

[Deleted member 174758]

The missus suggested I get a proper respirator anyway after a few brown trousers moments, ripping up flooring, drilling ceilings...

If you are doing a lot of work that involves dust (not just asbestos, cutting cement board, MDF, concrete, bricks, etc akso generate a lot of dust) I'd highly recommend taking a look at the JSP Force 8 dust mask. These come in at around £25 from the likes of Toolstation or Screwfix and have the advantage of relatively affordable replaceable filters and the ability to check for face fit. If you are using a couple of disposable P3 masks a week a Force 8 would pay for itself in a few months - and you get a better fit than any disposable mask can give you