How to Cover Asbestos Floor Tiles

Asbestos floor tiles used in public buildings.

Asbestos tiles can pose a major health risk in homes that were built before 1980. Any damage to the tiles can release asbestos fibers into the air where they can be inhaled and cause serious illness. However, removing those asbestos floor tiles can be even more dangerous. The Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency recommend covering asbestos floor tiles rather than removing them. One way to safely cover an old asbestos tile floor is with self-adhesive floor tiles.

Things You'll Need

• Tape measure or measuring rule

Instructions

Calculate How Many Cartons of Tile You'll Need

1. Measure the length and width of the room. Multiply the length by the width to find the area of the room in square footage. Example: If the room is 8 feet wide and 10 feet long, multiply 8 by 10. The room has an area of 80 square feet.

2. 

   Add any irregular sized areas of your room to your calculations as shown in Figure 1. This will give you total amount of square feet that your floor tiles need to cover.

3. Check tile cartons to find square footage of tiles per carton. Divide total square footage calculated in the last step by the square feet of tiles in each carton to find out how many cartons of floor tiles you need to cover the floor area. Add 10% for waste and for future replacements. Example: Each carton cover 15 square feet of floor. Your total square footage needed is 159 square feet. Add 10% to 159 to get the total amount of floor tiles needed. In this case, you need 175 square feet of tiles. Divide 175 by 15, the number of square feet that each carton covers, for a total of 11.66, so you'll need 12 cartons of floor tiles to cover the floor and have tiles left over for future repairs and replacements.

Prepare the Asbestos Floor to Be Covered

1. Clean the floor with a de-greasing cleaner to prepare the floors to accept the adhesive on the new tiles.

2. Remove all trim from around the edges of the floor, working carefully if you intend to reuse the existing trim.

3. Examine the floor for any damage, loose tiles or uneven areas. If there are none, proceed to the next section. If there are uneven areas or minor damage, go to Step 4. If the damage is more significant, go to Section 3.

4. Apply a thin layer of embossing leveler with a straight-edge trowel. Allow leveler to cure and dry completely before continuing.

Optional: Laying a New Underlayment

1. Nail down any loose tiles with 6d nails. Use a nail set to set nail heads below the surface of the floor.

2. Fill nail holes and any cracks with filler. Smooth even with floor surface.

3. Lay plywood panels over prepared tile floor. Fasten in place using the fasteners and fastening pattern recommended by the plywood manufacturer and new tile manufacturer. Leave 1/32" gap between panels, and stagger the seams to avoid creating a "line" under the new floor.

4. Apply a thin coat of floor leveler over plywood seams. Allow to dry and sand smooth. Clean up any dust with tack cloth.

Lay Out the Floor Area for Your Tiles

1. Find the center of two opposite walls in the room by measuring.

2. Chalk a string and stretch it from one point to the other across the floor. Give the string a sharp snap to mark the floor with a chalk line.

3. Repeat the two steps above to lay out a second line perpendicular to the first. The two lines will cross at the center of the room.

4. Beginning at the center point of your line, lay a row of tiles in each direction to the wall. Do not peel off the adhesive or stick the tiles in place. These rows are test rows to work out your layout. Ideally, you want to keep the number of tiles you'll have to cut to a minimum and to make sure that the tiles set against the wall are at least half the tile's width.

5. Adjust your tile layout as needed to minimize tile waste. Re-chalk the center line to your new adjustment if necessary.

Laying the Tile Floor Over the Existing Asbestos Tile

1. Start laying the tiles at the center of the floor and work outward, stopping when there is no room for a whole tile.

2. Every few feet, bond the tiles securely to the floor beneath by rolling over the new tiles with a heavy rolling pin.

3. Lay a piece of plywood on the new tiles if you must kneel on them to place more tiles.

4. Cut the tiles for the last rows one at a time and lay them in place.

5. Use a cardboard template and a craft knife to cut irregularly shaped pieces of tile around moldings or pipes.

6. Replace floor trim and/or moldings around the walls.

7. Admire your new floor from a distance until you can walk on it safely. The manufacturer's directions will tell you how long you have to wait.

Tips & Warnings

• Make a note about the asbestos tiles under the new floor and keep it with important household papers to be passed on to new owners if you sell the house.

• If damage to the asbestos tiles is significant, have the old floor removed by a professional asbestos abatement contractor. Wear a respirator if you are removing or repairing one or two asbestos tiles. Wear a respirator while laying the plywood underlayment to avoid inhaling any asbestos fibers that may be released by nailing or drilling.

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish
• Handling materials that contain asbestos
• Safely working around asbestos
• Laying a plywood subfloor