Black Floor Tiles/Mastic And The Dreaded ‘A’ Word...

samsparro

So, I have removed a carpet from my late 1960’s home, to find the floor covered in black square tiles. Quite a few of these were loose, so I set about removing them. They have come up easily, mostly complete but a few have broken.

Being chuffed with my work, I have stacked them outside.

The floor is then left with what looks like black mastic, but it isn’t sticky.

Only problem is one of my neighbours has mentioned the dreaded A word... and now i am slightly worried.

I know you can’t tell asbestos in tiles without testing, and having read numerous posts I should have left them down... but it’s a bit late!!

We are having carpet fitted, so is it now safe to lay carpet onto the black mastic? Or will I have to get that sealed?

Any helpful tips or comments would be appreciated.

FreeBear

HSE information sheets a23 and em9 cover removal & disposal of tiles, but as you rightly point out, without testing, you don't know if the waste does contain asbestos...

Is the floor concrete ?
If so, a thin coating of Self Leveling Compound will encase any (possible) asbestos containing mastic and give you a smooth surface to carpet over. On a timber floor, I'd just scrape off as much of the mastic as possible (a heat gun will soften it quite well). Put down a layer of reflective foil (600mm BacoFoil works quite well ), a good quality underlay, and then the carpet.

samsparro

[QUOTE=FreeBear

Thanks for the reply.

The floor is concrete I believe... and the self levelling is an idea as I’ve still got half a room of the tiles left down which I haven’t got round to taking up yet...

They joys of owning a 1960’s house 😱

FreeBear

samsparro wrote: »

They joys of owning a 1960’s house 😱

The issue with entrapment of possible asbestos materials, be it Artex on the ceilings or tiles on the floors.. Whilst you know of the presence of the suspect materials, future owners will not. Not a problem until someone starts drilling holes and release dust in to the air. If (and it is a big if without testing) the entombed materials do contain asbestos, the risk to health will be somewhere between negligible and zero.


If you want a fun house to own, try something built before the war (you pick - WWII, WWI, Boer, Napoleonic). Building standards were even more lax and dependent on how much beer had been consumed during the day.

dunroving

I had a similar situation at my 1963 house on a solid (concrete) base. Marley thermoplastic tiles were removed, leaving the black bituminous (I think) adhesive swirls. I had self-levelling compound laid, then luxury vinyl tiles.