Removal of Asbestos Floor Tiles

Moonberry_2

Hi, we are in the process of buying a house and I suspect ed there were some asbestos floor tiles so got asbestos survey done.  This confirmed the whole ground floor was covered in asbestos tiles under the carpet.  The carpet is old and will need replacing immediately and I imagine we would need to get the asbestos tiles removed before new flooring goes down.  Has anyone any experience of getting similar done recently.  If so could you give me an idea of what the cost was?  We are wondering whether we should try and negotiate with seller to get them to cover.  Thanks!

grumbler

Moonberry_2 said:

the whole ground floor was covered in asbestos tiles under the carpet. 

Do you mean that the entire house has concrete floor?

Removal=redoing. Are you going to tile the whole floor again? If not, the floor will need levelling/screeding

GDB2222

When you say asbestos tiles, you probably mean composite tiles that contain a very small amount of asbestos that is closely bound in the composite. They make a brilliant sub floor for laying carpet on. There’s no reason to remove them, and if left undisturbed the asbestos is safely locked away.

Or, you can get an expensive firm to remove them. 

GDB2222

We have just had new carpet laid on ours. When the old carpet was taken up, I was amazed what good condition the floor tiles were in. 

Doozergirl

GDB2222 said:

When you say asbestos tiles, you probably mean composite tiles that contain a very small amount of asbestos that is closely bound in the composite. They make a brilliant sub floor for laying carpet on. There’s no reason to remove them, and if left undisturbed the asbestos is safely locked away.

Or, you can get an expensive firm to remove them. 

I completely agree.  

I'd happily leave them in situ.  If paranoid then you could pour self-levelling compound over them, but I don't see the point at all and that's not cheap either.  

Niv

I agree with the above. No need to remove them. It will cause you more hassle and cost for no real gain.

Moonberry_2

Thanks for all the comments.  I think I had presumed a carpet company wouldn't lay over them.

twopenny

They may put a wooden 'underlay' down so you would need to inform them. Only way is to ask.
If you remove, our local recycling centre takes asbestos but you have to dump it yourself.

Niv

twopenny said:

They may put a wooden 'underlay' down so you would need to inform them. Only way is to ask.
If you remove, our local recycling centre takes asbestos but you have to dump it yourself.

To add to this; removing asbestos tiles can be an absolute nightmare as they do not always come up in lumps, they can crumble which makes removal a very time consuming activity. Also (if you didn't already know) it is possible that the adhesive also contains asbestos - its extremely sticky so virtually impossible to release fibres but my point is, even removing the tiles is unlikely to remove all the asbestos anyway. Then there is the surface you have left which I think others have already said may subsequently need leveling.

Really, you want to avoid removing these tiles if you can avoid it, its costly, time consuming and unlikely to achieve the outcome you are aiming for. 

noellesteward

Im soon to start removing the 10mm thick floor tiles from my bathroom, they are fitted on what looks like moisture resistance chip board ( the green stuff). whats the best method of removing them and the adhesive? Hammer/chisel, scraper? Ive got an sds breaker with a chisel attachment? was also thinking that if the floor is going to sustain a lot of damage, is it better to just remove the floor boards, with tiles on, then replace the floor with new boards

Nearlyold

noellesteward said:

Im soon to start removing the 10mm thick floor tiles from my bathroom, they are fitted on what looks like moisture resistance chip board ( the green stuff). whats the best method of removing them and the adhesive? Hammer/chisel, scraper? Ive got an sds breaker with a chisel attachment? was also thinking that if the floor is going to sustain a lot of damage, is it better to just remove the floor boards, with tiles on, then replace the floor with new boards

You'd be better starting a new thread, you'll get more answers that way.

In the meantime, a few pointers for you.

Whether you use hand tools or your SDS drill (NB for the latter you'd be better off buying an SDS tile lifter attachment rather than using a chisel attachment) depends on how easily the tiles come up. Try hand tools first, you may find the tiles come up quite easily with a broad cold chisel and a hammer.

Can't see how you could practically lift the boards without taking the tiles up first - how would you get to the screws/nails that hold the boards to the joists plus the boards have a tongue and groove connection along the edges.

Once you've got the floor tiles up a brief burst of steam with a wallpaper steamer plate is usually enough to just soften any stubborn tile cement that didn't come away with the tiles or succumb to the cold chisel/tile lifter. Be careful not to saturate the boards though!!