Help identifying floor covering please

[lunanalan]

Hello everyone

I am currently renovating my first house and made an exciting discovery today, Victorian tiles hiddden under a floor covering in my hallway and back room. Obviously I feel like I have won the lottery and am eager to expose them. Would anyone have any ideas about what the floor covering over them is? It is black, about 2-3cm thick and looks like it was used as a leveler. It is very strong but can crack under a hammer. My concerns are that it might be something which contains asbestos, although I havent found anything online which suggests so. I was hoping someone might have some advice or experience they could share with me.

Many thanks in advance

Untitled

• lunanalan
• 18 Jun 2014
• 1

Untitled

• lunanalan
• 18 Jun 2014
• 1

 

[steve22]

It looks to me a composite floor which was put down like a screed but was also a damp course, you will need to see if there is a damp course under the tiles, great find

 

[jay679]

Its a type of asphalt used as a damp proofing. If you remove it you will be subject to damp rising through the tiles which were probly played just onto a compacted earth type subfloor.

Olias