My house was built in 1946. I am worried about asbestos if I redo my
kitchen or bathroom floors.

Does it probably have asbestos under there? If so, I'll probably have
to just put the new tiles over the old floor, which will raise it up
quite a bit.

Thoughts, ideas?

-cg

Don't even mess around with it. Call a professional and have them look at
it. Otherwise you risk giving yourself serious health complications.

"nobertos" wrote in message
oups.com...
My house was built in 1946. I am worried about asbestos if I redo my
kitchen or bathroom floors.

Does it probably have asbestos under there? If so, I'll probably have
to just put the new tiles over the old floor, which will raise it up
quite a bit.

Thoughts, ideas?

-cg




----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Uncensored-Secure Usenet News==----
http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+ Newsgroups
----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =----

nobertos wrote:
My house was built in 1946. I am worried about asbestos if I redo my
kitchen or bathroom floors.

Does it probably have asbestos under there? If so, I'll probably have
to just put the new tiles over the old floor, which will raise it up
quite a bit.

Thoughts, ideas?

-cg

If it is ceramic tile you should be OK if it is a composite type, it is
likely asbestos.

--
Joseph Meehan

Dia duit

"clevere1" wrote in message
...
Don't even mess around with it. Call a professional and have them look at
it. Otherwise you risk giving yourself serious health complications.


I wouldn't recommend DIY asbestos removal any more than I would recommend
spending time in a smoky bar or going to the beach without sunscreen. But
the asbestos/cancer studies all seem to be based on chronic, long term
exposure. I question whether an individual taking some basic precautions
(respirator, spray mist the area and immediately bagging the waste) would
really put himself in significant danger with a one-time exposure.



"nobertos" wrote in message
oups.com...
My house was built in 1946. I am worried about asbestos if I redo my
kitchen or bathroom floors.

Does it probably have asbestos under there? If so, I'll probably have
to just put the new tiles over the old floor, which will raise it up
quite a bit.

Thoughts, ideas?

-cg




----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Uncensored-Secure Usenet
News==----
http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+
Newsgroups
----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption
=----

"clevere1" wrote in message
...
Don't even mess around with it. Call a professional and have them look at
it. Otherwise you risk giving yourself serious health complications.



The risk is extremely minimal.

Yes, there may be asbestos in those tiles, but mere contact is not a
problem. People have lived and worked with them for years with NO ill
effects. The asbestos in encapsulated safely in other materials.

You want to minimize breaking them. Let's look at this from a logical
standpoint. There is a percentage of the tile that is asbestos. It is only
when the fine fibers are airborne and inhaled that may cause any problem.
Undisturbed, no problem at all. If the tile is removed and not broken, no
harm at all. If broken, the chance that a fiber may get into the lung is
very minimal as it is probably a part of a heavier portion that will sink,
not float in the air.

Mass hysteria seems to be the biggest problem. Remove, bag, then landfill
the tiles and you will be perfectly save. Don't grind them into dust.

Jim Ranieri wrote:

"clevere1" wrote in message
...
Don't even mess around with it. Call a professional and have them look at
it. Otherwise you risk giving yourself serious health complications.

I wouldn't recommend DIY asbestos removal any more than I would recommend
spending time in a smoky bar or going to the beach without sunscreen. But
the asbestos/cancer studies all seem to be based on chronic, long term
exposure. I question whether an individual taking some basic precautions
(respirator, spray mist the area and immediately bagging the waste) would
really put himself in significant danger with a one-time exposure.
....

Agree wholeheartedly. And, as long as one is careful to not create much
airborne dust by doing stupid things like sanding it, I think the risk
is minimal. Of course, the legal disposition of the trash/waste is
another question if one is conerned of such niceties...

"Duane Bozarth" wrote in message
...
Jim Ranieri wrote:

"clevere1" wrote in message
...
Don't even mess around with it. Call a professional and have them look
at
it. Otherwise you risk giving yourself serious health complications.

I wouldn't recommend DIY asbestos removal any more than I would
recommend
spending time in a smoky bar or going to the beach without sunscreen.
But
the asbestos/cancer studies all seem to be based on chronic, long term
exposure. I question whether an individual taking some basic precautions
(respirator, spray mist the area and immediately bagging the waste)
would
really put himself in significant danger with a one-time exposure.
...

Agree wholeheartedly. And, as long as one is careful to not create much
airborne dust by doing stupid things like sanding it, I think the risk
is minimal. Of course, the legal disposition of the trash/waste is
another question if one is conerned of such niceties...


Well, of course. If your asbestos backed tiles were buried in a landfill,
someday an unsuspecting backhoe operator might kick it up, inhale the
airborn particulate and drop dead of lung cancer.

Jim Ranieri wrote:
....
Agree wholeheartedly. And, as long as one is careful to not create much
airborne dust by doing stupid things like sanding it, I think the risk
is minimal. Of course, the legal disposition of the trash/waste is
another question if one is conerned of such niceties...

Well, of course. If your asbestos backed tiles were buried in a landfill,
someday an unsuspecting backhoe operator might kick it up, inhale the
airborn particulate and drop dead of lung cancer.

Yep, that's the EPA's position as I understand it...

If I'm correct, legally you aren't supposed to put it in an
unregulated trash disposal. Personally, I think it's absurd, but that's
never stopped such rules before.

"Duane Bozarth" wrote in message

If I'm correct, legally you aren't supposed to put it in an
unregulated trash disposal. Personally, I think it's absurd, but that's
never stopped such rules before.

Depends on the form it is in. Siding and tiles, AFAIK are permitted. The
flaky insulation must be handles in a particular manner and go to special
landfills. There is information on the web at one of the government sites.
Worth a shot with Google

I have the same problem in my house in the basement and on the slab
(split level home) that I am currently renovating. The old green tile
is coming up and getting thrown out. I talked to a couple of
contractors I know in the business and they were pretty adamant that
residential removal was not a problem, per statute (local, or federal I
don't know).

Someone else pointed out to me that floor tile and siding materials are
not the "flaky" type of asbestos used in buildings or insulation
products, so not too much to risk with the right precautions.

What I mean is adequate ventilation and breating apparatus. For my
situation I will have a cartridge breather and a window fan for
gozoutas, with a back door open for gozintas. The forced air furnace
will be turned off so as to not suck up any of that room air for
recirculation. The cross breeze between the back door and window fan
should create some positive air pressure in the room at the top of the
small flight of stairs from the room I will be working in. That
doorway will be sealed up with plastic.

I think I'm covered. Open to suggestions if anyone cares.

Thanks!

nobertos wrote:
My house was built in 1946. I am worried about asbestos if I redo my
kitchen or bathroom floors.

Does it probably have asbestos under there? If so, I'll probably have
to just put the new tiles over the old floor, which will raise it up
quite a bit.

Thoughts, ideas?


You will get advice from the squat-to-pee types that anything to do with
asbestos is a disaster in the making.

There has never been a demonstrated health risk from any commercial product
containing asbestos - including brake shoes where the dust is like smoke!
Floor tiles, ceiling tiles, siding, gloves, insulation, nothing in the use,
manufacture, or disposal of said items has ever been proven to be a hazard.

Dig up the tiles. Leave them in a schoolyard during the dark of the moon.

If you wait a few months, I might be able to help. I'm working on an
invention, asbestos-filled breast implants, and will need raw materials.

You have 2 choices:
1) call in "experts" in their white hazmat uniforms, who will charge
you $10,000 to remove the old floor after wrapping the whole house
in multi-layers of plastic sheeting, hepa filters, etc.
2) Toss some new flooring down over the old floor. Use a bit of
leveling compound first if needed. Enjoy your new floor and
enjoy the $9,500+ that you saved.

Good luck,
Gideon

On Tue, 24 May 2005 19:02:34 -0500, in alt.home.repair
Asbestos Question Duane Bozarth wrote:

Jim Ranieri wrote:

"clevere1" wrote in message
...
Don't even mess around with it. Call a professional and have them look at
it. Otherwise you risk giving yourself serious health complications.

I wouldn't recommend DIY asbestos removal any more than I would recommend
spending time in a smoky bar or going to the beach without sunscreen. But
the asbestos/cancer studies all seem to be based on chronic, long term
exposure. I question whether an individual taking some basic precautions
(respirator, spray mist the area and immediately bagging the waste) would
really put himself in significant danger with a one-time exposure.
...

Agree wholeheartedly. And, as long as one is careful to not create much
airborne dust by doing stupid things like sanding it, I think the risk
is minimal. Of course, the legal disposition of the trash/waste is
another question if one is conerned of such niceties...

Ditto

--
To reply to me directly, remove the CLUTTER from my email address.

Does it probably have asbestos under there? If so, I'll probably have
to just put the new tiles over the old floor, which will raise it up
quite a bit.

Thoughts, ideas?


Asbestos, especially that kind of asbestos, is
only dangerous if you work with it for a living.
As a one-shot deal, wax the floor, put on a good respirator,
take the tile out, put down new tile, put the old tile
and debris in paper sacks. And wash every surface in
the house.

Then either:
Find someone with a decent sized cabin cruiser, cruise about
a mile and a half offshore, check for the coast-guard planes,
and dump them overboard.
or:
Dig a hole at least 5' deep, and bury them. Put
an old broken pistol and some ammo in a plastic bag with
them, so that when the feds dig up your yard,
they'll be so excited about the "arms cache" that they'll
forget to test for toxic waste.

--Goedjn
PS. Don't actually do any of the above,
it's all illegal, and will get you jailed
for the rest of your life, which will be
drastically forshortened on account of
the lethal substances you've exposed yourself
to.


And your little dog, too.

The trick is to not break the tiles when taking them out.

One way to work around this is to use dry ice.

Make a frame out of 2x4's to hold the dry ice.

Take the frame with the dry ice and put it over each
square. The glue on the bottom of the tile will weaken
and the tiles will come right off. (in one piece no less)

If you are lucky the glue will stay mostly on the tile too.

If you dont plan on doing it this way, make sure to at least
wet down the tiles prior to you taking them off to minimize
dust when they break.

Tom

Tile asbestos was like 5% and "white". It's always safer to cover
it if you have the room. Rule of thumb: fiberglas is a thousand times
worse than sand and white asbestos is a thousand times worse than
fiberglass but blue asbestos (on steam pipes, ships and skyscraper
beams) is a thousand times worse than that.

Contractors never listen to engineers unless the engineer breathes
down their neck, so nothing would surprise me, but I can't imagine a
bathroom having asbestos tile. I've never seen anything other than
ceramic or actual stone in bathrooms.

My late mom put linoleum in the kitchen in 1987 and the contractor
refused to glue or nail it to the asbestos tile and just put in extra
moulding around the wall to hold it in place. Fridge repair distorted
the linoleum in 1992 and it's been bubbly ever since. The moulding was
too small. Replacing the top-blowing 1965 fridge in 2002 with a
bottom-blower causes the linoleum to shift with the climate.



- = -
Vasos-Peter John Panagiotopoulos II, Columbia'81+, Bio$trategist
BachMozart ReaganQuayle EvrytanoKastorian
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/vjp2/vasos.htm
---{Nothing herein constitutes advice. Everything fully disclaimed.}---
[Homeland Security means private firearms not lazy obstructive guards]
[Fooey on GIU,{MS,X}Windows 4 Bimbos] [Cigar smoke belongs in veg food group]