Don’t assume your flooring is safe just because tiles are intact
Asbestos is a cancer-causing mineral that, for a long period of time, was used in both floor tiles and the materials used to bind those tiles to the ground. If your house was built anytime from Ancient Rome to around 1990, you may have asbestos in your tiles.
You might not need to rip up the floor and remove the tiles completely—they can be encapsulated—but no matter which method you choose, encapsulating or removing asbestos tile is not a DIY-friendly project. Any type of asbestos poses serious health risks and should only be handled by a pro.
Encapsulation is an alternative to asbestos removal. This process uses a sealant to bind asbestos fibers so they cannot be released into the air. This method is only suitable in some situations and must always be performed by a professional.
When asbestos is dormant, it poses no danger to humans. The issue is that, whenever asbestos is disturbed, it becomes airborne. Once in the air, it enters people’s lungs, causing a number of different cancers and scarring of the lungs, called asbestosis. Mastic, especially black mastic, was formerly used to secure floor tiles in place. This binder contains a good amount of asbestos.
There are some instances where asbestos can remain undisturbed for decades, such as with plumbing or inner-wall insulation. Floors are a different story, and it is notoriously hard to identify asbestos in floor tiles. People walk on them constantly; they move when the house shifts or moves (like during minor earthquakes); and even placing heavy furniture on tiles can deform and crack them. If there is a mere millimeter of space between tiles, or any tiles are broken, asbestos can (and will) become airborne.
The price of covering asbestos tiles can be split into two categories—removing the tiles completely or encapsulating them. We strongly recommend removing the tiles and cleaning any remaining asbestos, rather than pursuing encapsulation. The two main reasons are:
Home value: The presence of asbestos in any amount can affect your home’s resale value. Asbestos in flooring or paint can lower your home’s value anywhere from 1% to 10% or more.
Safety: While encapsulation does prevent asbestos from entering breathable air, it does not remove the asbestos in any way. Other than affecting your home’s value, it leaves opportunities for the encapsulation to fail, resulting in airborne (and therefore, dangerous) asbestos fibers.
Removing floor tiles and scrubbing any trace of asbestos can cost between $450 and $6,000, with most homeowners paying around $2,200. We do not recommend encapsulation, but respect that there may be specific use cases. In those circumstances, expect to pay 15% to 20% less than a full removal.
The simple answer to this question is, “Whenever you find out there is asbestos.” In all seriousness, the day you find out, you should be calling or interviewing local asbestos removal professionals. Urgency is a requirement because you cannot see, taste, or feel asbestos in the air. It is in your best interest—and that of anyone else living in the house—to tackle the problem immediately.
Just in case you skipped to this section, we need to repeat that we do not advise covering the tiles. It is more of a Band-Aid fix than anything permanent, and if you sell your house, chances are that you will want to rip out the asbestos anyway. If your tiles are old and frail (called “friable”, or easily crumbled), they may not even allow for encapsulation and will require total removal.
There are, however, some cases where you may be advised to encapsulate (cover) asbestos tiles instead of removing them outright. Usually, this is done as a temporary fix before undergoing a more comprehensive solution. A professional will perform the steps below when encapsulating tiles.
You may have discovered the presence of asbestos when you located a label or maybe some old paperwork stating your tiles had asbestos. An asbestos testing professional will still need to inspect and verify. They will probably visit your house twice—once to detail the job and inspect the site, and a second time to perform the work. Sometimes this requires a waiting period between the two stages, especially if the professional needs to send samples to a lab.
At this point, you probably should not be in the house. A professional may or may not advise you to stay in a hotel or with friends or family, but it is worth doing. There will be an extreme amount of asbestos in the air during the work, and you do not want to risk breathing it. A pro will seal off the room and, in most cases, set up air scrubbing and high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) vacuum equipment.
Once the room is prepped for work, the professional will apply the first coat of the solution. This is almost always some sort of sealant, usually an epoxy. The sealants themselves are perfectly safe and based on the idea that they both bind the asbestos into the epoxy and create a thin layer that traps fibers.
Your asbestos pro will let the fans scrub the air for a while to ensure there is no residual asbestos floating around. One benefit of encapsulation is that it does not disturb the asbestos nearly as much as full removal, so ideally there would only be a few fibers in the air. Whoever performs the work is responsible for ensuring the environment is safe afterward.
This stage is self-explanatory but one of the most important. Cleaning your house after asbestos exposure can be complicated and imprecise. The fibers can settle on any surface, flat or vertical, and with minor disturbance become airborne. Professionals know how to clean a room so that it is safe, but it never hurts to give the room another once-over for peace of mind. Just remember to wear all the appropriate personal protective equipment.
There is really only one tip, and that is to call a pro. DIYers can surely find other projects to keep their hands full instead of dealing with a known carcinogen. But let’s assume for a second that you cannot hire a professional right away, or that you just notice asbestos in your house and tiles. You should:
Seal off the room where the asbestos is as best you can.
Ventilate the room by opening all windows and doors.
Always wear protective gear until a professional signs off on safety.
Ask your contractor for both pre- and post-work air test results.
Make sure your contractor is fully licensed.
This is not a job to do yourself. There is a chance that a professional will let you work alongside them to learn, but that is pretty rare. Professionals who work with asbestos charge anywhere from $5 to $20 per square foot for removal and cleanup. This results in a total house remediation cost of around $5,700 for indoor spaces; however, expect to pay significantly less—unless there is asbestos flooring throughout the whole house.
If you can locate building records, you may be able simply to see what type of tiles (or bonding agent) was used. Any flooring made between 1950 and 1989 more than likely contains asbestos. Asbestos tiles can also be slightly thicker than other tiles and often measure 9” x 9”, 12” x 12”, and 18” x 18. Black mastic was a commonly used adhesive that contains asbestos.
Asbestos was most commonly produced and integrated into building products from the 1920s to the late 1980s. In reality, asbestos use should have ceased much sooner because asbestos was linked to cancer in studies produced as early as the 1950s. You can even extend that number past the 1980s due to stockpiled materials and because some countries treat asbestos use differently. It may also be found more in commercial applications than residential.
It is legal to cover asbestos tile with new flooring. For some homeowners, this is a reasonable option to prevent asbestos fibers from spreading in the home and reduce health hazards. However, it’s a better long-term solution to completely remove asbestos from your home rather than cover it up.
More than likely, you will not notice exposure symptoms for quite some time, which is one of the reasons why asbestos is so dangerous. Shortness of breath, persistent coughing, chest pain, and other respiratory symptoms are signs of severe asbestos poisoning that typically lead to more dangerous conditions, such as mesothelioma, asbestosis, and other forms of lung cancer.
Bathroom tiles can contain asbestos, just the same as patio tiles or kitchen tiles. Remember that asbestos was used primarily for its insulative and fire-resistant properties, both of which are desired in a house. Before we knew asbestos caused cancers and other diseases, it made a lot of sense to include it in many different building materials, including bathroom tiles.
