Asbestos Floor Tiles Australia

Asbestos tiles in the home.

Asbestos floor tiles australia. Resilient sheet flooring containing asbestos was also produced finding wide use as early as 1968. Asbestos was added to the manufacturing of floor tiles for insulation and heat resistance properties and flooring with asbestos is classed as a non friable asbestos containing material. Unfortunately vinyl sheet flooring manufactured with an asbestos backing poses a serious exposure risk when it is disturbed. Stain proof fireproof stylish and affordable vinyl products strengthened through the inclusion asbestos in their manufacture were a very popular choice in many new zealand houses.

Unlike many asbestos containing materials vinyl asbestos flooring is generally safe to be around. Vinyl tiles with asbestos are all 12 12 or 9 9 tiles with asbestos. Sanding sawing drilling or tearing the tiles out however can release fibers into the air. Asbestos floor tiles will not release toxic fibers and pose a health risk unless they are disturbed.

During the 1980s asbestos cement materials were phased out in favour of asbestos free products. Vinyl is a type of plastic that has long been a popular material for floor tiles and sheets. Once mixed into asbestos tiling materials the fibres become bonded sealed in and do not pose the same threat as friable asbestos materials. Like floor tiles vinyl sheet flooring is a long lasting and economical material and it also offers more aesthetic options to suit a homeowner s taste.

Asbestos in floor tiles. In addition to the tiles themselves a layer of mastic a type of adhesive below the tiles is also likely to contain asbestos. Asbestos was a popular building material in the 1920s until it was completely banned in 1980. In australia asbestos cement materials were first manufactured in the 1920s and were commonly used in the manufacture of residential building materials from the mid 1940s until the late 1980s.

Armstrong produced the excelon tile series beginning with a plastic asbestos floor tile series in 1954 referring to the product as vinyl plastic asbestos floor tiles beginning in 1955 and vinyl asbestos tiles from 1957 to 1980. No homeowner would want their family to be directly exposed to something as harmful as asbestos but the simple truth is that most homes in australia that were built before the mid 1980s do contain features or components made with asbestos based products. In floor tiles asbestos is used primarily for its insulation properties and its ability to resist fire.