Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community - View Single Post - Asbestos and vinyl sheet flooring? Kind of urgent advice needed!

kevman · 05-04-2015, 09:14 PM

You can have 24hr testing done but that still won't help your "I need to pull up the floor tomorrow" problem. I used http://www.ehspartnerships.com/ when I had my vinyl floor tested. For what it's worth my two layers of vinyl sheet/tile came out clean.

My plaster walls however came back positive. After researching I determined the fear was overblown and that if I was careful I could take it down myself (two walls ~10 ln. ft.). I bought an asbestos rated dust mask and wore full coveralls that I threw away when I was done. I also replaced the filters on my dust mask when I was done. I bagged all of the plaster as I took it down and cleaned up the mess with a shop vac that had a bag and a hepa style filter. I had also taped off the room for the reno to keep the dust in the work space. Finally I made sure my furnace was off so it didn't kick on and circulate air until I was done. I didn't have a means of negative air pressure so I skipped that step.

Tiling over an existing floor may be common practice but it's pretty sloppy in my opinion and you're left with an ugly threshold.

When it came to removing my vinyl tile (without asbestos) the subfloor wasn't glued down so it was actually a really clean and easy job. I bought a 36" crowbar and was able to pry up the sub floor and take the tile with it. It probably took an hour to rip the floor up and another hour to carry it out to the dumpster. If yours is that easy too and your tests do come back positive you at least won't be exposed for that long.

05-04-2015, 09:14 PM	#5
kevman #1 Goaltender Join Date: Apr 2004 Exp:	You can have 24hr testing done but that still won't help your "I need to pull up the floor tomorrow" problem. I used http://www.ehspartnerships.com/ when I had my vinyl floor tested. For what it's worth my two layers of vinyl sheet/tile came out clean. My plaster walls however came back positive. After researching I determined the fear was overblown and that if I was careful I could take it down myself (two walls ~10 ln. ft.). I bought an asbestos rated dust mask and wore full coveralls that I threw away when I was done. I also replaced the filters on my dust mask when I was done. I bagged all of the plaster as I took it down and cleaned up the mess with a shop vac that had a bag and a hepa style filter. I had also taped off the room for the reno to keep the dust in the work space. Finally I made sure my furnace was off so it didn't kick on and circulate air until I was done. I didn't have a means of negative air pressure so I skipped that step. Tiling over an existing floor may be common practice but it's pretty sloppy in my opinion and you're left with an ugly threshold. When it came to removing my vinyl tile (without asbestos) the subfloor wasn't glued down so it was actually a really clean and easy job. I bought a 36" crowbar and was able to pry up the sub floor and take the tile with it. It probably took an hour to rip the floor up and another hour to carry it out to the dumpster. If yours is that easy too and your tests do come back positive you at least won't be exposed for that long.