The only way to make it a science is to hire a licensed asbestos inspector or by sending a sample to a lab to be tested but doing so can be costly and time consuming.
How to recognize asbestos flooring tile in kenya.
Asbestos can be whitish greyish or whitish blue in colour.
Tile size asphalt asbestos plastic asbestos and vinyl asbestos floor tiles during this period were sold in 9 x9 12 x 12 and in some years 18 x 18 sizes and were quite a bit thicker than most of the modern tiles.
Asbestos will not be harmful if.
You should examine the material closely to determine its condition.
Unlike many asbestos containing materials vinyl asbestos flooring is generally safe to be around.
Blow in asbestos was also frequently used for ceiling tiles and in ceilings above drywall before it was known to be dangerous.
Look for residue of old flooring tiles that may have contained asbestos.
But when mixed with other materials it may be impossible to know whether asbestos has been added or not.
Many old flooring tiles that contained asbestos were designed and arranged in a 9 in 23 cm by 9 in 23 cm pattern.
The construction industry didn t start phasing out asbestos materials until the 1990s so if your house was built before then it is safest to assume that they contain asbestos.
Discoloration an oily discoloration of the tiles in your home might indicate that they contain asbestos.
If the tiles or the floor beneath show oily discoloration the tiles very likely contain asbestos.
As you can see this method is not an exact science.
Step 1 examine the tiles closely for decay.
Step 5 collect a tile.
The older the tiles the more likely they are to contain asbestos.
All you need to know about asbestos floor tiles find out if your flooring contains this banned material and if so how to deal whether you aim to remove it cover it up or leave it alone.
Determine the age of your tiles.
Vinyl tiles and decorative wall plasters commonly contain asbestos.
However here are a few ways you can identify asbestos in your tiles.
Watch for an oily appearance to floor tiles which indicates that they are made from asbestos bound with asphalt.
Step 4 laboratory testing.
How to identify asbestos floor tiles.
The asbestos floor tile identification articles in this series illustrate that with the combination of design appearance and an idea of floor tile age many asbestos containing floor tiles or sheet flooring products can be reliably identified even before confirmation by a test by a certified asbestos testing laboratory.
Normally roofing tiles which contain asbestos have a white grey or bluish white colour.
Step 3 date the tiles.
But that changes as soon as you decide to remove it.
If you re renovating a building or redoing the flooring in a room look for the pattern of older tiles that could indicate that asbestos tiles were present.