flooring help: Asbestos tile and black mastic adhesive

9 years ago

Hi,

My name is Mike i live in SW Wisconsin, we purchased our 1st home, 1 1/2 story home build in the 1890s - 1900s and our first task was to replace the old carpets and paint to make it feel like ours. To my surprice we found green 9x9 vinyl tile with black adhesive underneath.

Tiles were broken and/or chipped, and came off fairly easy (now i know they might contain asbestos) and we were better off leaving alone.

The black adhesive was left behind and i want to get some idea as to what to do with it?

Ive spent hrs after hrs researching but cant find a concrete answer.

Also i read the mastic is friable... Does this mean that even walking on top of it would be harmfull?

I have read comments raging from little exposure to asbestos is fine to even if minimal is fatal, which absolutely made me panic.

Also ive read "you cant even walk on the mastic" to answers that say "as long as you dont sand it, grind it, youre okay"

I would greatly appreciate any help, as im clueless on what to do.

Thank you

Comments (5)

PRO
Cancork Floor Inc.
9 years ago
I would start with a flooring professional. You've just discovered that you may be out of your league and now is a good time to pay a professional to come in and deal with what you've exposed.

There is a very limited number of materials that can be applied over top off asbestos based cutback adhesive. Very limited. And you need to KNOW which is going to work for your particular job. The material is not cheap and it requires a basic knowledge of the product itself. Most professional floor layers will have this knowledge and know what to purchase, where to purchase it AND how to work it to enscapsulate the cut back adhesive.

The first thing they will do (at your expense) will be to take a small sample of the adhesive and send it away to a lab (this should have been done with the tile you ripped out BTW). Results take 24 hours and then the real work begins.

Please contact a professional before you go much further.
mikkemma9 thanked Cancork Floor Inc.
mikkemma9
Original Author
9 years ago
Cancork floor inc.

Thank you so much for your response, i have talked talked to 3 contractors as well as researched for days literally, and the answers just vary so much to where instead of advice im just more confussed.

1 gentlement suggested it i just carpeted over and forget about it. Another person said lay a moisture barrier and laminate floor over it. To where other treads ive read suggest i immediately call a professional abatement company and have them remove it.

Funds are very limited, needless to say i have no experiense on inspecting a home before purchasing and have found many problems. My inspector's words; "this house has been standing for over 100yrs, i dont see anything taking it down anytime soon. Youre okay to buy"
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mikkemma9
Original Author
9 years ago
I guess the main question that comes to my mind at this moment is... Is the cutback-adhesive friable or non-friable?

Knowing this would deffinately help choose a course of action.

I will be watering down the adhesive and taking a sample to send in.
gemariah
8 years ago
I appreciate all this talk, but what will remove the mastic or what to cover over it. I just don't have the funds but I'd like to start putting a floor down. Right now I'm trying goo gone. It takes some of it off. Hot water has taken some off, but on a cold slab it doesn't have much time to work.

I wish I could find someone to help, but so far trades people think I'm some kind of patron for their employment. I need electrical and plumbing, too.
PRO
Cancork Floor Inc.
8 years ago
@gemariah...you are doing everything that would be 'recommended' for cut-back adhesive that contains asbestos. You cannot grind it (if you are certain it contains asbestos...because you paid to have it tested). All you can do is wet it down and scrape, scrape, scrape.

Friable means it is dangerous when "air borne"...that's what friable means. This normally occurs with grinding...which is why you are not allowed to grind asbestos. It is dangerous once the fibres are air borne. Wetting it down (water or Goo Gone) are about all you can do.

Once you have most of it off, you can go ahead and lay down 6mil plastic sheeting (vapour barrier) and then go down over that with a floating floor (click together floor). This is assuming the concrete is "flat enough" to accept a floating floor.

If you want a permanent floor (ceramic, stone, porcelain, etc), you will need to get rid of all the cut-back adhesive before you can add any "glues" or mortars.

Have you tested the cut back for asbestos?