Replacing vinyl floors

[Deb & Bill]

If you have older linoleum on your floor, the problem there is the paper layer which usually contains asbestos. Vinyl sheet flooring from the 80's would not have the paper layer. It would be the older stuff.

 

[Deb & Bill]

An asbestos abatement company can come over and take a sample and have it tested.

That company would need someone with an Inspectors Accreditation, not just a Superintendent Accreditation. You can call an Industrial Hygiene company that does air monitoring, soil testing, etc and they should be able to take a sample safely and provide you with an answer fairly quickly.

 

[_19disnA]

^^ Correct, that was my earlier remark. Advising a homeowner to remove tiles on their own is not recommended.

 

[scjo68]

When I replaced the floor in my kitchen, I just laid down 1/4" sheeting on top of the old floor and laid the new stuff on top of that. My house is very open and I didn't have to deal with any door clearances though, so that might be something that would stop someone else from doing it. Worked like a charm for me.

I would love to do that... unfortunately I have some doors that would not clear a floor that high.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I was reading up on it and looks like the 1986 thing is something Home Depot popped up results on. It was noted that the adhesive might have asbestos in it.

If it were me I would 1) Check to see if Lowes will do it if you confirm no asbestos or if it's their hard rule no matter what 2) If Lowes won't do it I'd probably hire a company at least familar with vinyl flooring and asbestos concerns. They likely have more experience on the matter even if there is no asbestos.

Asbestos is just something that isn't generally a health concern issue until it's exposed to the outside world if you will. So on your floors is fine generally speaking but if it were asbestos in the adhesive then measures have to be taken because of the health risk once you start removing it and getting exposure. Adding new layers isn't the same as removing layers. This is the same for vinyl siding. Lots of homes built prior to the early to mid-80s have vinyl siding that contains asbestos which isn't an issue until it becomes exposed.

I did find from an article that "It is safest to assume that any flooring material put down before 1980 contains asbestos. Without a manufacturer’s label, you can’t tell whether a product has asbestos in it just by looking at it." As far as I could find basically manufacturers stopped producing vinyl flooring with asbestos by 1986 so that could be why the specific year was selected. I know the home was built in 1984 but it is very close in time and manufacters could still have had asbestos in the original floors before they phased out.