Can You Install Carpet Over Asbestos Tile

If you have a room with asbestos tile you may be tempted to remove the tile prior to carpeting.

Can you install carpet over asbestos tile.

If the carpet glue is negative for asbestos but floor tile and or mastic are positive conduct a test pull to determine the likelihood of the floor tile remaining intact or. It s not the asbestos that s the issue but instead the slick surface that will cause your tile job to fail. Grinding or sanding of asbestos tile will make it airborne and is hazardous. There is no reason that you cannot install carpet over tile floor and in fact there are a number of good reasons to consider doing exactly that.

Some of the flooring tiles have come off and you see. However as a favor to future owners of your house make some note of the fact that asbestos tiles are under the new flooring. And if the existing carpet was glued down not tacked it can be a huge time saver to lay the new carpet over the old. You could also cover the tiles with new vinyl flooring linoleum or even ceramic tiles.

Over time asphalt which was a main ingredient in asbestos tiles can degrade and cause the tiles to look grimy or discolored in spots. For example by leaving tiles underneath a carpet you ll be able to take your carpet with you when you move home and still leave some kind of flooring for the next owners tenants. All removal of asbestos must be done by a professional. I have some carpet installers at my home now to install some carpet over some possible asbestos tile have not had it tested.

In a basement i d suggest a rubber based carpet pad rather than a fiber pad. If you are using an epoxy based thin set mortar and are willing to seal the tiles after installation natural stone tiles such as marble or granite can also be used over asbestos. On the face of it installing new carpet over the old carpet does have some advantages. Once covered with carpet you will no longer risk the tile chipping coming up or becoming airborne.

Big problem they are trying to glue down the tackstrips and they are finding that the glue is not holding down the tack strips well enough so that the carpet will not get pulled up almost immediatly. Leave the carpet in place or cover over the existing carpet. Installing ceramic or porcelain tile over asbestos tile. Once again thickness can be a consideration as is the amount of maintenance that natural stone requires such as sealing and cleaning with stone cleaners.

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. When you are dealing with asbestos you can either remove it with an abatement or manage it in place. Plan and budget for an asbestos abatement to remove the carpet and asbestos flooring materials.