asbestos tile under carpet

7 years ago

Hi everyone! This is kind of a long story.

So I encountered a problem while we were getting our carpet installed. After the installers pulled back the old carpet they found tiles underneath. They informed me that they could be asbestos tiles since they were 9x9. They called their supervisor to see if they could pull out the old tack strips. Our new carpet is the tape kind so they weren’t too worried. The supervisor said it was okay so they got to work. I was a little worried but figured they knew what they were doing.

I was in the backyard with my dogs and heard all kinds of banging. They were NOT gentle removing the old tack strips. This caused all the tiles against the wall the crack/ break. I had a mini panic attack because I know asbestos tiles are safe if unbroken but now all along the edge they are broken. They told me it’s okay we’re putting tape down. They put duct tape and then the carpet tape over the breaks.

If this going to cause me any problems? Will the tape contain those broken tiles well enough?

Thank you for any advice. I’m super worried about my dogs sniffing around the edges.

Krystal

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Comments (2)

SJ McCarthy
7 years ago
You're OK. The MINUTE amount of *possible asbestos is SOOOOOOO tiny that I'm not overly concerned. Asbestos usually takes repeated (10+ years) high-exposure (brake technician at Midas without a dust mask since 1983) before the horrible side effects (cancer) become an issue.

Of course in a perfect world we would never be exposed...but we don't have a perfect world. The world you find yourself in is the best possible one. You have extremely minute exposure. Only the cracked edge of the tile would have given off any dust. The rest of the pieces are intact and safe. The edge breakage is so small that it is almost not worth mentioning.

I would be more concerned with poor electrical in a home of that age then a small break in asbestos tiles like you have. Please relax. This isn't like measles or Hep C where one single exposure means you will catch the disease. Asbestos is an airborne irritant that requires HUGE/VAST amounts of exposure to come up with cancer 25 years from now.
Krystal Kuhn
Original Author
7 years ago
SJ. Thank you so much for your reply! I guess my real question was about the tape keeping it contained well enough. The rest of floor is fine and I’m definitely not worried about the tiny bit of dust that came out from the breaks.

Thank you again!
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