Possible asbestos tiles, sealing only parts of the floor

[battenburg]

I have a lean-to utility room (extension to Victorian terrace, but has actually been there for a long long time) is being refurbished. There are ceramic tiles over a concrete floor.

I had an asbestos refurbishment survey done which lifted one of the ceramic tiles and found black adhesive but not vinyl tiles. The adhesive tested negative, all good. Today the builders started and took out some kitchen units. The ceramic tiles don’t go all the way under the units, and where they stop there are actually some vinyl tiles on top of the concrete. This can only be seen easily now the kitchen unit is gone - where the surveyor actually lifted the ceramic tiles it was just the adhesive left. Whether they should have looked under the unit is a different issue.

Question 1, and I know this can only be answered through testing - is it likely that the adhesive would not contain asbestos but the tiles could? Luckily the builders aren’t actually meant to be doing anything to the floor in terms of disturbing the tiles, but they are now exposed and looking a little worse for wear.

Question 2. The ceramic tiles are not in great shape but weren’t actually going to be replaced as part of this work. Now I have a situation where there are multiple levels in the flooring. I know that if they are asbestos they can be sealed and left in-situ, but how would you deal with the junction between the ceramic tiles and lower vinyl tiles? The finished floor doesn’t have to be perfect - there can be a mismatch in colour etc.. But I don’t want it to just fail at the junction of two different surfaces.

 

[Tigercubrider]

My reading of this is that your units hid old tiles and the rest of the viewable floor is ceramic tile?
You aren’t worried about the adhesive, only the old tiles and material.
The floor under the units was lower

I’d say not to worry. The builders should be able to screed or use floor leveler where the cabinets were.
The adhesive is basically bitumen and nothing to worry about.nthe tiles likely have a bit of asbestos that could be removed with minimal effort. Just do it when covered in damp rags.

You might find that skimming the old tiles simply shifts the issue down the road. Once you change the ceramic floors, you will have to deal with it

 

[battenburg]

My reading of this is that your units hid old tiles and the rest of the viewable floor is ceramic tile?
You aren’t worried about the adhesive, only the old tiles and material.
The floor under the units was lower.

Yes, correct. All the visible floor is ceramic and a couple are a bit wobbly - potential damp coming up through. The surveyor lifted one of these up but seemingly it was just adhesive, which was tested. Under the cabinets though it looks like the ceramic tiles have been laid over vinyl.

Nothing was being done to the floor for budget reasons, even though it could do with repairing. As the room as been stripped out otherwise, I do wonder whether it be worth getting the vinyl tiles removed now. I know they are very low risk, but I get anxious this kind of thing and would probably want a professional to do it in that case. Only about 5m2.

Will chat to the builder tomorrow.

 

[Tigercubrider]

If the room is stripped out, I’d go for it.
It’s not like you need an asbestos removal company - just do it in a damp environment and wear a mask plus disposable suits.
Don’t use a vacuum cleaner, mop up dust. Bag the tiles.

 

[accelerator]

Add pics of tiles and you'll get a better answer.

 

[battenburg]

Here is the floor in question. Vinyl tiles were tested yesterday so will await those results. The area that isn’t covered by ceramic tiles is probably only about 1m2, possibly less.

 

[battenburg]

Bumping this back to the top for some advice. The tiles do have asbestos - a professional will be taking these up and then using a pva solution followed by Idenden ET10 or similar. I know it could be a DIY job, but I get quite anxious about this kind of stuff and would really rather just get a professional in!

The builder will then need to apply a leveller of some kind so the flooring can go down. I am slightly concerned about whether the concrete floor itself is a bit damp - can't see that properly at the moment. A couple of the ceramic tiles had lifted slightly at one side of the room, so I do wonder if that's the case. The builder has said they intend to apply a latex levelling compound, and I'm trying to work out if thats appropriate to go over the sealant.

Its a utility room and the floor will either be a vinyl sheet or LVT so it doesn't actually matter if there is a smidge of damp coming through. The levelling compound just needs to 'stick' (well, in my simple understanding of these things thats all that needs to happen. Any other considerations or suggestions?