#ASBESTOS TILE HOW TO#
#ASBESTOS TILE PROFESSIONAL#

During an asbestos survey, a professional can take a sample of the tile to establish whether it contains asbestos. In general, the only way to be certain whether asbestos is present or not is to have an asbestos survey carried out. As asbestos is only a material contained within the tile, asbestos floor and ceiling tiles can look identical to those that contain only harmless materials. It is extremely difficult to tell whether asbestos is present in tiles simply by looking at them. There is often a layer of adhesive (such as mastic) underneath the floor tiles. This means that they are common in many types of commercial and industrial premises. Asbestos in floor tilesįloor tiles that contain asbestos typically do so because of its insulation properties as well as its ability to resist fire. These are almost always found in offices and other professional settings where many people might be working in a potentially loud environment. This means it has been used for many years in acoustic ceiling tiles. One of the useful properties of asbestos is sound dampening. Asbestos in ceiling tilesĬeiling tiles have commonly been used to reduce noise and helping to stop it spreading from one room to another. These are the tiles that may contain asbestos. However, there are still many tiles that remain in situ from years ago. In powdered form it could be bonded with other materials like vinyl to create stronger tiles that are also fire resistant and have better insulative properties.Īsbestos has been banned from use in the UK since 1999, so you won’t find it any tiles or indeed building materials that were professionally used after 1999. Why is asbestos commonly found in tiles?Īsbestos was historically used because its many useful properties. In this blog we examine asbestos in tiles to take a closer look.

#ASBESTOS TILE HOW TO#

So, if you have asbestos tiles anywhere in your workplace or even at home, it is important to understand how to recognise it and deal with it. Today, asbestos remains one of the leading causes of work-related illnesses. Unfortunately, however, since the heyday of asbestos it has been established that this material actually poses a number of significant health risks. One of the places that asbestos is commonly found is as a part of materials such as floor and ceiling tiles, after having been bonded with other materials such as vinyl. With a wide range of uses thanks to its insulating and strengthening properties, it was used for sound proofing, mixed into cement, and as a constituent part of many coatings and commonly-used products such as Artex. For many years asbestos was considered to be an extremely valuable material.

Asbestos tile