LVT over asbestos - click in or glue down?

pchavimangel

6 years ago

We have asbestos in our basement and are now covering it up with LVT.

Is it best to use click in or glue down?

Does click in allow for water to seep through if there is every any flooding?

Any help would be appreciated! Thanks!

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Comments (4)

User
6 years ago
maybe consult the city? they might have specific ways you need to do it to meet code.

I would imagine that glue is bad because the next time the tile is ripped up, it could cause the asbestos material to chip and peel along with it. but that's just a guess.
pricklypearcactus
6 years ago
I would do click rather than glue down in case you (or future owners) ever need to remove or repair the floor. Asbestos is relatively safe if it's encapsulated but totally not safe if you start tearing it up. If you do click, then you should be able to remove or replace the flooring without disturbing the asbestos but if you glue down you're almost certainly going to disturb the asbestos if you ever have to pull up the floor. I imagine if you have flooding you may be in trouble regardless because gluing flooring down is not going to prevent the water from getting to the original asbestos floor any more than click would.
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pchavimangel
Original Author
6 years ago
Thank you both. That's what I thought!
SJ McCarthy
6 years ago
Glue down over asbestos tile is a beast. It can be done...but it takes lots of technical know-how.

A click-together vinyl has issues with 'lumpy-bumpy' subfloors. And one thing glue-down asbestos tiles offer = lumpy and bumpy. Oh dear.

Well there isn't much to be done about the lumpy-bumpy if you LEAVE the asbestos tiles there (there is....but again the TECHNICAL ASPECT is often too much for DIY level installs). The lumpy and bumpy can be dealt with once the tiles come up...but then you have to look at asbestos tile abatement costs.

Damned if you do; damned if you don't.

A floating vinyl floor is easy. You will void the warranty if the asbestos tiles are too lumpy-bumpy...but then again if this is a 'short term' flooring solution (you are happy getting 7-10 years out of it) then you are happy with doing it the easy way - warranty be damned.

I'm assuming you have lumpy bumpy. Without photos it is hard to say what issues you might run into when laying a floating floor over a substrate like this. You might have lucked out and are working with a FANTASTICALLY FLAT situation.

Load photos if you can. Thanks.