Ceramic Tile Glue Asbestos

Asbestos in tile mastics.

Ceramic tile glue asbestos.

Roofs asbestos was a common ingredient in plastic cements and sealants for rooftops. Asbestos flooring often has black mastic which is a type of adhesive on the back. I ve read that black floor adhesive contains asbestos but what about non black wall tile glue. Mastic is a type of glue used to adhere tiles and vinyl flooring to the subfloor.

Common in homes built in the 20th century black mastic was used as an adhesive for ceramic tile linoleum and other flooring materials. Some tile mastics and adhesives including adhesives used for floor or wall tiles did contain asbestos as a filler or fiber strengthener. This type of adhesive was asphalt based and most likely contains asbestos whether or not the tiles. Ceiling tiles were often glued in place using asbestos based glue pods which can become brittle over time and release many toxic asbestos fibers into the air when disturbed.

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. It is always safest to leave asbestos flooring removal to asbestos abatement professionals. But then asbestos was found to be a health hazard. When you remove that floor covering to make way for new flooring you may encounter the mastic and wonder whether it is safe to remove the main concern surrounding this question is that black mastic often contains asbestos.

Black mastic also known as cutback adhesive was commonly used to glue flooring tiles down. If your building was built before 1980 mastic mixed with asbestos may have been used to seal your tiles to the floor. Here is a picture. It was also resistant to moisture oil grease heat alkalis and acids.

How to remove asbestos tiles safely. Possible signs of asbestos mastic include discoloration and an oily texture. You can t see it if the floor is intact but you can spot the black adhesive if some of the tiles have already popped off the floor. Asbestos adhesive was used for asphalt flooring tiles and vinyl or linoleum sheet tile because it strengthened the flooring and made it more durable.

Even if the vinyl flooring is pulled up intact the old adhesive underneath may also contain asbestos. Traditional ceramic tile installations were bedded in cement photo at page top not mastic and not an asbestos containing material. Resilient sheet flooring containing asbestos was also produced finding wide use as early as 1968.