Asbestos Flooring

Whenever you buy a fixer upper, there is usually “that room” you have to deal with. You know, the one that is so ugly you just have to address it immediately. In our basement, “that room” was affectionately named the Las Vegas Room. “Why?” you might ask.

Did that answer your question?

I didn’t actually plan on working on this room until the upstairs was complete, but mother nature had other plans. Our basement previously flooded during heavy rain, and the carpet in the bedrooms got absolutely soaked. We got everything off the floors, vacuumed out the standing water, and ran fans and the dehumidifier, but there was lasting damage from the water.

While we’ve addressed/are addressing the water issue (post coming soon!), there was still a lot of nasty, moldy carpet I needed to pull out. When COVID hit, I suddenly had lots of spare time, so I decided to get this resolved once and for all. However, once I pulled the corner of the carpet back, I saw tell-tale signs of asbestos flooring.

Asbestos is a commonly used building material. It is perfectly safe until it becomes “friable”, which essentially means damaged such that particles can become airborne. Asbestos seriously damages your lungs, and leads to mesothelioma. My grandpa died from mesothelioma and it is NOT something to take lightly. Before you do ANY sort of demolition on a house that was built before the 80s, carefully look for asbestos tile (or mastic).

This style of tile, the “9×9” are typically asbestos. The mastic that is used to install the tile also contains asbestos more often than not. If you find this tile, and it’s damaged, immediately stop what you’re doing and call for help. I see MANY people recommend ways to deal with this removal yourself, but I’ve also seen MANY people do it wrong, which can quite literally kill you and your loved ones.

Call an asbestos remediation company. Just do it. You can also send the tile and mastic off to be tested if you want to be certain before forking out cash for the removal, just know that once you find it you must disclose it if you sell your house. This tile was in most of my basement. While prices will vary greatly by location, it was ~$2000 for 650 sq ft of top flooring, the tile, and mastic removed by a licensed and insured company. While it’s two grand I wasn’t planning on spending, it’s also two grand towards peace of mind.

Bonus pictures because the company I used is awesome and agreed to take pictures of the demolition for my blog!