The mastic itself usually has asbestos in it.
Asbestos tile glue.
But removing the tiles can disturb this trapped asbestos so the best strategy is painting over asbestos.
Even if the vinyl flooring is pulled up intact the old adhesive underneath may also contain asbestos.
Most 9 inch vinyl tiles and many 12 inch tiles and the mastic adhesive that anchors them to the subfloor contain a level of asbestos.
Asbestos adhesive was used for asphalt flooring tiles and vinyl or linoleum sheet tile because it strengthened the flooring and made it more durable.
When you remove that floor covering to make way for new flooring you may encounter the mastic and wonder whether it is safe to remove the main concern surrounding this question is that black mastic often contains asbestos.
Asbestos adhesive removal is best left to qualified asbestos abatement professionals especially when old asbestos glue daubs have become friable easily crumbled by hand.
It was also resistant to moisture oil grease heat alkalis and acids.
While an expert test by a certified asbestos testing lab is required for sure identification of the asbestos content of most materials.
Mastic is a type of glue used to adhere tiles and vinyl flooring to the subfloor.
Asbestos flooring often has black mastic which is a type of adhesive on the back.
If your building was built before 1980 mastic mixed with asbestos may have been used to seal your tiles to the floor.
The tiles may have asbestos too.
You can t see it if the floor is intact but you can spot the black adhesive if some of the tiles have already popped off the floor.
This type of adhesive was asphalt based and most likely contains asbestos whether or not the tiles.
It is always safest to leave asbestos flooring removal to asbestos abatement professionals.
The asbestos floor tile identification articles in this series illustrate that with the combination of design appearance and an idea of floor tile age many asbestos containing floor tiles or sheet flooring products can be reliably identified even before confirmation by a test by a certified asbestos testing laboratory.
The good news is that the harmful fibers are securely embedded into the vinyl material so under normal conditions the fibers aren t released into the air.
How to remove asbestos tiles safely.
How to recognize roof or floor adhesive mastic or sealant that may contain asbestos.
This article provides dates of manufacture of asbestos containing adhesives mastics sealants and includes photographs and text describing the appearance of such products.
Possible signs of asbestos mastic include discoloration and an oily texture.
Asbestos dust can be minimized by wetting the adhesive material and then scraping it by hand but even then the professional must be wearing protective gear and a hepa mask to stay safe from asbestos exposure.
