Covering Asbestos Floor Tiles With Ceramic Tile

Clean up any remaining bits.

Covering asbestos floor tiles with ceramic tile. Taking out ceramic tile is dirty process that sends broken chips and concrete dust flying throughout the house. It really is up to you as long as the existing tiles are not disturbed in any way. That said it can be difficult to get a level surface for the new floor especially if the old tiles have chipped away. Ceramic tile is a tough flooring surface that is as hard to remove as it is to damage after it is in place.

Floor leveler is not the best choice for your situation becuase its likely that the asbestos tile are bonded to the older black adhesive. Use a steel floor scraper to pry up the asbestos tiles one at a time. Don t be afraid to wet mop and scrub at the tiles because a clean tile will render better adhesion and a more successful seal. You can tile directly over asbestos with new tile including ceramic tile.

Use a portland cement based adhesive to adhere the new tiles to the old. Dispose of asbestos floor tiles in approved asbestos disposal bags and seal each one as directed. Lay groutable vinyl peel stick tile flooring over the tile. That way no one will be endangered years from now when they start to rip up the new flooring and find asbestos tiles beneath.

Remove baseboards as part of your prep too so that you can fully clean your tile. You have lot of options when it comes to covering asbestos tiles and it only is a health risk when the floors asbestos particles come airborne. Take care to choose a tile whose thickness is not going to create a problem and choose a tile that is rated for floor use. Using concrete to encapsulate asbestos tiles starts by having a clean well washed floor surface.

Therefore you can choose from using an adhesive with a new plywood subfloor to even porch floor paint as you stated. In many cases installing a new floor over the tiles encapsulates the asbestos fibers and is an acceptable way to manage the material. This is trickier as you can t simply slap mortar down on top of old asbestos tile put down the new tile and expect a good result. You could also cover the tiles with new vinyl flooring linoleum or even ceramic tiles.

However as a favor to future owners of your house make some note of the fact that asbestos tiles are under the new flooring. The tiles are easy to pop off that glue that means its good odds the floor leveler will begin to break apart now you have a crunchy floor. Paint the tile with a stencil. It s not the asbestos that s the issue but instead the slick surface that will cause your tile job to fail.

Installing ceramic or porcelain tile over asbestos tile.