Another asbestos floor tile question - with a difference

[duotwr]

Hi everyone,

I've crossed paths with 60s asbestos containing floor tiles in a previous house. Now - in our new house - we've knocked down an old wooden sun room and unfortunately encountered dreaded 9 inch square tiles on bitumen.

I've sent samples of tile and bitumen off to be tested. But I want to consider next steps if they come back positive - as this has a risk of impacting on our extension build.

I'm aware of guidance and methods around removing tiles and disposing of them. Google now tells me the bitumen may have asbestos too. But - given I want to rip out the whole concrete slab on which the bitumen is set - what's the best course of action if the bitumen does indeed include asbestos? I don't much like the idea of paying for bitumen to be removed and disposed off just to get a concrete slab nice and tidy and ready to be demolished....

Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance.
Keith

 

[Deleted member 267285]

If the results come back positive, then you might be able to encase the tiles and bitumen?

 

[Tigercubrider]

I would have thought demolition while spraying with water was safe enough.
Loads of people have scraped the tiles up indoors with no precautions.

Doing it under a flow of water (and not smashing the whole thing to fragments may work.
I’d still wear PPE

 

[^woody^]

It's not the tiles that contain asbestos, but the backing and the [bitumen] adhesive.

The tiles tend to come up easily, and safely as fibres stay within the bitumen.

Then just spread some self leveller over the bitumen layer to seal it.

 

[Wayners]

Tiles contain asbestos and pop up easy. We removed 6 rooms in half hour some years ago.
Took ours to tip and some have asbestos bin so look up.
I know some on our estate have paid £2.000 for removal.
I poured 2 pack floor leveler over bitumen

 

[Tigercubrider]

The OP wants to demolish the entire slab.
Not cover it and incorporate

I guess that they could coat the entire slab with some kind of liquid sealant, allow to dry and then use a water fed disc cutter to section the slab and lever the units into some kind of bags?

 

[^woody^]

I see.

Well the actual fibre content is minimal, and being sticky bitumen the fibres just stay within it when broken. So normal sheeting of internal doorways, venting to outside and misting when breaking is all that is needed.

 

[jeds]

You would be disposing of asbestos waste, which can only go to a special waste facility. My advice is remove the offending tiles and bitumen and dispose at your local tip, for free. If you break up the concrete with asbestos still attached you will need an asbestos skip at a not insignificant cost.

 

[Wayners]

Get the tiles up which is normally easy.
What's left is black bitumen with no visible asbestos. Maybe with a microscope you might see some but its so small it's going to be equal to what's naturally present in day to day life..

I just poured 2 pack floor leveler over ( bottle and powder mixed) not water and powder.

Not sure taking slab up is a good idea unless it's keeping you awake... No reason to take up floor

 

[duotwr]

Thanks for the replies. Slab removal is not optional - we're taking away a crap old sunroom with a concrete slab and then excavating to allow us to build a new insulated floor slab for a proper extension.

I've sent samples for testing - hopefully back Monday. I know the tiles are easy to pop off - I've done it before. It's the mastic that concerns me. If it comes back as ACM then I can't see a way past a) getting it removed or b) turning the whole broken slab into expensive asbestos contaminated waste. I don't even know the thickness of the slab - at 100mm I'm looking at around 2m3 of asbestos contaminated concrete.

Guess there is little to do except wait for test results. If it's just the tiles then I can deal with them myself most likely.

Keith

 

[Tigercubrider]

Dunno if it helps but acetone will make the bitumen soft. I guess that a dose of acetone, followed by a floor scraper would allow a goo to be created and maybe mixed with dry sand? Then bag the sand and dispose as contaminated?
The actual concrete underneath won’t have been contaminated.