Kitchen tiles ( asbestos)

[Samanthajayne]

I moved into my housing association house 8 years ago. When I moved in there was some vinyl tiles on the kitchen floor, i was never told anything about them at all. I decided to just leave them and cover them with my own ceramic tiles. Then when I moved in I asked the housing association if there were any asbestos tiles in the house, ( I was concerned as it’s a 1930s house) and they sent me a ‘cloned sample survey took from homes of the same house in the same around’
It said ‘sink pad level 2 pressumed’ ( this one doesn’t concern me coz it’s under cupboard on sink
And ‘floor tiles 50m level 2 presumed’
So then that’s when I realised it’s a good job I didn’t remove them. But they didn’t inform me of them containing asbestos UNTIL I ENQUIRED ABOUT ASBESTOS IN THE HOME. Which I think is so wrong as I could have removed them putting us in danger. Anyway I pulled back my carpet grip from the door way between living room and kitchen and there were loose bits of tile underneath that have give way, now I’m worried the damage this has done to my health coupled with the fact my toddler could have got some of this in his mouth without me realising. Also by the back door my tile cracked which also made the asbestos tile crack and break and over time I’ve just swept them up as I didn’t fully realise the extent. Should the housing association have removed these before I moved in? They had chance to whilst the property was empty and even if they couldn’t remove Should they have properly informed me of this? And does the ‘presumed’ bit mean ‘maybe contain’ so they actually don’t know for sure ?

 

[footprints]

It would be ideal if every landlord had to have a survey before letting the property not only to advise of any risk, but to stop tenants innocently disturbing it.
Maybe it should also be part of every house sale too so that DIY'ers did not smash down Artex ceilings drill holes in asbestos sheeting!
That said of all the asbestos containing materials in the home the under sink pads and thermoplastic (Marley) tiles are the least dangerous unless you sand down, drill or saw the tiles producing very fine dust. The release of fibres is unlikely, when you snap them the fibres tend to remain embedded in the broken edges. although not to be recommended eating it is not the same as breathing it in, a bit of tile should just pass through and out the other end.
Presumed really means that most of those products produced before 1999 could legally have contained asbestos although it was being phased out from the 1980's onwards.
I hope that helps to allay your fears.
PS as you found ceramic tiles do not work well on Marley tiles they are hard to get a good adhesion to, carpet or floating laminate flooring tend to be the best.

 

[Samanthajayne]

Thank you
This is what the email I was sent from the housing years ago said

“ I have attached the records we have regards asbestos within your home. These are cloned from sample properties of the same type of home in the same area”

So I’m not sure whether my tiles will contain it or not. I’m going to ask them to test them

 

[Samanthajayne]

This is a picture of the tiles once I pulled away the floor separator and these tiles are underneath the ceramic tiles.

 

[Lower]

You're probably winding yourself up unnecessarily. Thermoplastic floor tiles with asbestos in are one of the lowest risk categories. As long as you haven't ground the tiles into a powder you're unlikely to release any fibres.

Do you have the right to do work to a housing association property yourself? Is it shared ownership?

 

[Samanthajayne]

You're probably winding yourself up unnecessarily. Thermoplastic floor tiles with asbestos in are one of the lowest risk categories. As long as you haven't ground the tiles into a powder you're unlikely to release any fibres.

Do you have the right to do work to a housing association property yourself? Is it shared ownership?

I have the right to put my own flooring down yes. It’s not shared owner ship it’s housing association but council owned.

I had a surveyor come out today and I feel he wasn’t really helpful. He just said I would need to remove one of my ceramic tiles first then call them out again to come and look at the tiles underneath but they wouldn’t really do anything about them so not sure what to do really

 

[footprints]

Do you really want the tiles disturbed any more?
I would treat the exposed ones with pva diluted 1 to 1 with water mix it in an old plastic container to avoid contaminating the remaining pva brush on a couple of coats and dispose of the brush and container afterwards.
refit your cover strip and forget about it

 

[Lower]

I have the right to put my own flooring down yes. It’s not shared owner ship it’s housing association but council owned.

I had a surveyor come out today and I feel he wasn’t really helpful. He just said I would need to remove one of my ceramic tiles first then call them out again to come and look at the tiles underneath but they wouldn’t really do anything about them so not sure what to do really

If you've tiled on top then you're not disturbing them and the tiles are effectively encapsulated. Stop worrying would be my advice.

quote from HSE website 'If you are sure (or strongly suspect) that your home contains asbestos materials then it is often best to leave them where they are – especially if they are in good condition and unlikely to get damaged. You should check the condition of the materials from time to time to make sure they haven't been damaged or started to deteriorate.'

http://www.hse.gov.uk/asbestos/faq.htm#property-contain-asbestos