Tips For Removing Asbestos Vinyl Tiles

by Kirsten Hawkins

Asbestos vinyl tiles are mostly used for flooring in the homes. However, with the growing awareness about the harmful effects of asbestos, people are removing the asbestos vinyl tiles from their homes and other buildings. You can either hire a professional company for removing the asbestos tiles or do it yourself with the help of some simple tips mentioned herein. However, you have to follow certain safety precautions to avoid asbestos exposure to you and your family during and after the removal process.

Precautions for removing asbestos vinyl tiles are necessary because exposure to Asbestos dust is dangerous. Asbestos is a natural fibrous mineral and can break into to tiny light particles polluting the air especially when it is dry. Hence care should be taken for the proper removal of tiles from the floors. Exposure to asbestos is known to cause serious diseases such as asbestosis, respiratory problems and some types of cancers.

A Quick Guide to Asbestos and Health Issues

Gerard Simington

Unless you have been completely out of touch, you have probably heard all the hubbub about the dangers of asbestos. So, what is the big deal?

A Quick Guide to Asbestos and Health Issues

Asbestos is a fibrous material that is highly resistant to burning. It has a long history. While it was first used on a large scale commercial basis at the turn of the twentieth century, it has actually been around much longer. In fact, the ancient Egyptians were known for using it burial clothes.

Common modern applications used to include building materials, products and automobile brake pads, which all required a fire resistant element. Asbestos is still used today, but on a fairly small scope. The reason has everything to do with health. Asbestos in and of itself is not harmful to people. What is harmful, however, is asbestos dust.

Asbestos dust is a vicious thing. Due to the chemical makeup of the material, the dust is like a cloud of fine glass particles. While they will not damage your skin, they do great damage to the lungs. Making matters worse, asbestos dust is so fine that it is easily raised from asbestos material like ceiling tiles and walls. Once in the air, it is all but invisible. Prolonged exposure, such as when working on or in a building with asbestos materials, can result in massive amounts of the toxic dust entering the lungs.

Once asbestos dust is in your lungs, you cannot expel it by coughing. That doesn’t mean the body does not try. Asbestosis is scarring of the lungs from acid created by the body in an effort to get the asbestos dust out. If this process is allowed to occur for 10 to 20 years, the lungs may stop functioning because of excess scarring. If that sounds bad, it only gets worse. Asbestos dust can lead to terminal cancer in the form of mesothelioma. [What is Mesothelioma?]

Asbestos is an excellent fire resistant material that saves us from burning while killing us in a much slower manner. Since 1989, it has been banned in the United States in all but a few commercial areas.

Gerard Simington is with FindAnAttorneyForMe.com - offering asbestos and mesothelioma legal information.

Removal of asbestos vinyl tiles is easier and safer than the sheeting. Tiles are safer to remove than the sheeting because the asbestos is embedded and held together by a vinyl resin in tiles.

Safety Precautions for Removing Asbestos Vinyl Tiles:

- Keep all the tools and protective clothing in the room before starting the removal procedure.

- Take precautions not to break the tiles while removing

- Use warm water to soften the adhesive and to prevent asbestos particles from floating in the air

- Never sand the tiles or the glue because sanding may release dangerous quantities of asbestos dust into the air.

- The safe way to remove the asbestos vinyl tiles and the glue is to wet them with warm water and popping them up with a floor scraper.

- If the tiles are glued to a layer of underlayment, you can remove large sections of the tiles and underlayment to reduce the amount of asbestos released in the air.

- Specialists in asbestos abatement opine that it is much safer to remove large chunks of floor than smaller pieces.

- Keep wetting the removed material with water to prevent release of asbestos fibers.

- Store and seal all the removed material in containers and seal them with duct tapes.

- Clean the floor and surrounding surface with water.

- Dispose of the protective clothing and removed material in containers with adequate asbestos labeling.

- Consult the landfill personnel before disposing of the asbestos containing materials.
About the Author

Kirsten Hawkins is a asbestos and mesothelioma specialist from Nashville, TN. Visit http://www.asbestosblog.org/ for information on asbestos reform, mesothelioma lawsuit news, and more.

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