Yes.

Best to cover over with another flooring thus preventing the asbestos fibres from circulating. To safely remove the flooring, a speciality hazardous waste removal company would be required.

Of course, since mesothelioma can take decades to develop, you may be fine. Your son less so.

" To safely remove the flooring, a speciality hazardous waste removal company would be required."

That would be IF the floor tested positive for asbestos.

Yeah, the teenager should quit with that stuff stat.

Still.....

I'm sure I'll get jumped on for posting this, but I wouldn't test. I'd just treat it as possibly asbestos-containing, and remove it myself.

I'd start by contacting city hall to find out what I had to do to dispose of possible asbestos. In some places, all you have to do is double-bag it and put it in the trash collection.

I'd keep the whole floor very, very wet and just scrape the stuff off. Water keeps the fibers from becoming airborne.

If it has black cutback underneath, that can be removed safely with a product called Bean-e-doo mastic remover. Use at least twice what the label says you need, and let it soak at least 3 times as long as it says.

Or, if you're not trying to prove you're following protocol, just use plain industrial or restaurant soybean or other vegetable oil, for a fraction of the price.

If you use cutback remover oil, cleaning up the oily floor will be a headache. When I used Bean-e-doo several years ago, I followed up with TSP.

Not everyone will agree with me, but I'm not afraid of asbestos when it's handled properly. If you don't feel comfortable with it, by all means get your savings accounts or home equity line of credit in shape, then call a remediation company to test and/or remove it. Good luck.

David-

You're right...not everyone agrees with you. I'm also "not afraid of asbestos when it's handled properly," but the instructions you list are not adequate to prevent contamination or provide personal protection. And this could also result in violations of environmental laws and regulations, depending on requirements of your locality.

For people who want to do this correctly and not compromise their homes and health, here is an example of what is typically recommended: https://www.health.state.mn.us/communities/environment/asbestos/floortile/resft.html

If you don't get lots of replies, a quick search for "vinyl floor asbestos" on Houzz in Flooring will yield 3879 results. Lots of advice and wisdom stored here.

Thanks for posting that link, Kudzu. I'll admit that some of what they recommend is a little beyond what I'd do, but I agree with much of it and would refer most homeowners to the page. I've bookmarked it.

Thank you for all the advice and suggestions. It looks so much better!