Jack Shappa
Feb 25, 2008, 11:50 AM
Greetings. A year or two ago we decided to replace the ceramic tile in our living room with carpet. After removing that tile, we found the original tile underneath. It was a black and white checkerboard tile put in when the house was new (1923 or so). It was ruined obviously so it needed to be removed. Knowing asbestos was not used in tiles until the 1940s I just tore it out. Underneath that old tile was a layer of greyish felt. It was stuck down to the floor (and the tiles were stuck on top of it).
Now a year or so later I learned even some old tiles sometimes used asbestos in their "backing". Though this seems less like tile backing and more like an actual separate layer glued to the floor, then the tile applied on top (though its very old so I can't be positive).
We didn't fully remove this felt layer, just laid carpet pad and carpet over top.
My questions are, could that old felt layer contain asbestos, and should I now go back and pull up the carpet/pad to remove it? Or is it pretty well sealed down by pad/carpet? It was definitely "ripped up" in the tile removal process. Would walking/vaccuming the carpet agitate and release fiber down under the carpet and pad?
Now a year or so later I learned even some old tiles sometimes used asbestos in their "backing". Though this seems less like tile backing and more like an actual separate layer glued to the floor, then the tile applied on top (though its very old so I can't be positive).
We didn't fully remove this felt layer, just laid carpet pad and carpet over top.
My questions are, could that old felt layer contain asbestos, and should I now go back and pull up the carpet/pad to remove it? Or is it pretty well sealed down by pad/carpet? It was definitely "ripped up" in the tile removal process. Would walking/vaccuming the carpet agitate and release fiber down under the carpet and pad?