Asbestos in vinyl sheet flooring adhesive?

I talked to someone about asbestos in my vinyl sheet flooring and was told that it wasn't really a problem but that the adhesive could be. There 's wood floor underneath and we were hoping to refinish it. The house was built in 68 but I'm pretty sure the flooring was installed later. The person I spoke with frightened me, so I thought I'd get a second opinion. Thanks.Asbestos in vinyl sheet flooring adhesive?
Its hard to say if the flooring might contain asbestos since you don't know the year it was put down. If there is wood floor underneath, it is a good bet that it could have been much later.





If it was vinyl tiles (VCT) I would be a lot more concerned as most VCT before 1980 did contain asbestos.





I noticed your question because I recently went through the same thing at our office building. Over about a month period I did a lot of research and read interesting articles all over the internet.





HGTV had a good article or post, and so did http://www.findanyfloor.com.





Hopefully you will find what you need at either of those sites, or from one of the knowledgeable people that come to this site.


Asbestos in vinyl sheet flooring adhesive?
It's possible that there's asbestos in the materials but you won't know for sure unless you have them tested. if testing shows there is asbestos, let a qualified, licensed contractor remove it for you. Here's what's involved in asbestos cleanup:





The Cleaner Cleanup


http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/article/鈥?/a>





If the materials do contain asbestos but you decide not to remove them, you could cover the floor with new vinyl flooring, linoleum, or various other materials. However, as a favor to future owners of your house, make some note of the fact that asbestos materials are under the new flooring. That way, no one will be endangered years from now when they start to rip up the new flooring and find asbestos beneath.
Get a sample of both and send it to be tested. Asbestos was used in making tiles all through the 70's and even some of the 80's, so there's a chance it does contain fibers. If the glue also contains the fibers, (whether as part of its composition, or transfer from the tiles) refinishing the floor might be a bad idea, since you would have to sand the glue off, releasing the fibers into the air. Get the test done and find out what you are dealing with first, then go from there.
If there *is* asbestos in either the tile or the glue it shouldn't be that much of a problem as they're both composite materials with a low percentage of asbestos in the fibres, even if they're in poor condition.





By all means look up a consultancy and get a survey done, but don't deliberately smash a tile up to be sampled- if you've got one loose that ought to do.