Accidentally removed vinyl sheet flooring from the 60s

6 years ago

We are renovating a 1960s house. We started by removing the ceramic tile in the addition and continued on into the rest kitchen/dining room. The tiles were very hard to remove so we used an electric hammer. Shortly after we had removed a majority of the flooring, we realized that the hammer was also removing vinyl sheet flooring underneath. Not thinking, I started sweeping up the debris so we could get a closer look. I'm afraid it is probably asbestos and we definitively disturbed it. We called someone to come test the vinyl and are waiting on the results. I am worried sick about the damage we have done. How bad could the exposure be?

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Bruce in Northern Virginia

6 years ago

Sheet vinyl from the 60's is unlikely to have asbestos, but the adhesive used may have some (very low) asbestos content. Asbestos is a hazard if you breathe it into your lungs, so unless you used a grinder and turned the flooring into dust, it may not be an issue. Pieces and small flakes of flooring and adhesive that are removed with an electric hammer are usually not small and light enough to become airborne. Did you at least use a mask during the demo?

Bruce

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Comments (7)

HU-525981012
Original Author
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Yes, we had masks on. But there was a lot of dust. I can't tell if that is from the tile/grout or from the vinyl. We were also replacing drywall at the same time and a lot of dust may be from sanding that.
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SJ McCarthy
6 years ago
Asbestos exposure, as a single event, is considered extremely minor. You have to have SEVERE EXPOSURE (think back to the First Responders on 9-11 as the towers came done...covered head to toe in 1-2 inches of dust) over weeks or months to get to the point of 'dangerous'.

If you are asking what your risk is, then you can relax and feel 99.99999% confident that nothing will come of this. If you are worried about the current amount of dust in the space, you can spray it down with a misting of water to keep the dust from flying into the air. That makes it much better/lowers the risk of having the particles thrown into the air.
Bruce in Northern Virginia
6 years ago
I don't want to downplay the risk of asbestos exposure; however, it is not generally harmful unless its in friable form (small particles or fibers that are released into the air). For example, one common remediation technique is to simply spray it with liquid to prevent fibers from becoming airborne.

It sounds like your risk/likelihood of asbestos exposure is low, but it will give you some piece of mind once you get the results of the test for asbestos.

Bruce
HU-525981012
Original Author
6 years ago
I think the part I’m most worried about is that we did this work over the span of a couple weeks. Tore up some tile, then did some more a few days later. So all the dust was just sitting there and we were walking around in it. Then we realized that there was the vinyl flooring coming up with the tiles. So we were exposed for a couple of weeks.
cjbam99
5 years ago
Any word back on the outcome of the test?
Colby Knapp
5 years ago
Hey cjbam99. I did something similar to this thread and to what you posted on another thread. Have you gotten any more information on how much your risk is? I’ve been driving myself and others around me crazy for the past two weeks. My email is cjaay82@gmail.com my number is 585-356-5684