Asbestos floor tiles were quite popular in the past until the mid 80’s when almost every tile available in the market contained asbestos. Some of these tiles are still present in many homes constructed during this period. Now the question arises whether these tiles are hazardous for us or not and the answer is that they are not harmful for us in the tile form, but, anyhow, if the asbestos fibers are released from these tiles then it becomes harmful for our health. Before moving any further let us know some of the properties of asbestos. Asbestos is a group of minerals that occur naturally as thin separable fibers and it is heat resistant, fire resistant, chemical resistant and a known bad conductor of electricity. This is extremely durable and contains very good sound absorbing properties.

Asbestos was preferred over and above other products because asbestos not only made the manufacturing process much easier than other materials, but was found extremely durable and cost-effective. These tiles usually consisted of a mixture of limestone, asbestos, plasticizer, stabilizer, binder, and pigment. The mixture was usually heated to temperatures of 300°F and fed into a roller to be pressed to the desired thickness. They were then pressed through cylinders to gain uniform thickness, after which pigmenting and surface designs were done while the tiles were still hot and soft. The tiles were then cooled by immersion in water, water-spraying, or placed in a cooling unit. They were then cut into appropriate size and waxed, ready for the market. The asbestos fibers gave the tiles properties like abrasion resistance, extra strength and durability, added flexibility and resistance to moisture, oil, grease, heat, acids and alkalis with dimensional stability.

A home with asbestos floor tiles does not offer the risk of asbestos exposure for you as the asbestos fibers are firmly embedded into the tiles and pose no risk unless the tiles are deliberately broken and asbestos fibers allowed contaminating the air. If you want to remove the asbestos tiles from the floor then always remember to hand over the job to the professional experts and do not try your hand on it. Another option available before you is to cover asbestos floor tiles with new non-asbestos tiles or flooring material. This makes sure that you need not disturb the asbestos tiles, and the risk of asbestos exposure due to the tiles is eliminated.
 
If you still want to remove the old asbestos tiles and adamant of doing the job by yourself, then you should observe certain precautions to minimize the risk of asbestos fibers getting into the air. The precautions includes you should never sand asbestos floor tiles or the glue under it, you should never use any power tool that could damage the tiles, It is always better before removing the tiles, if you soak the entire floor with plenty water for at least 30 minutes. You should never use the vacuum cleaner while removing the asbestos tiles. All cleaning should be done with a soaking wet mop and all materials used for cleaning should be transferred immediately to polythene bags and tightly sealed for disposal with appropriately labeling these polythene bags.