How To Tell If Roof Tiles Are Asbestos

This is because until the 1980s asbestos was not fully recognised to be hazardous to the health of anyone exposed to its fibres.

How to tell if roof tiles are asbestos.

When asbestos tiles were still in production they came in three sizes. Older building have a higher probability of containing asbestos building materials. Generally tiles containing asbestos do have a gray white or bluish white color. The result of the test will lead you to the next step.

If you re already suspicious about the potential for asbestos measure the tiles to see if they fit one of these three sizes. The most common size for asbestos tiles is 9 inches by 9 inches. Resilient sheet flooring containing asbestos was also produced finding wide use as early as 1968. Asbestos roof tiles are usually square shaped and their colour is generally a combination of grey and black.

However asbestos can be a range of colours depending on the material it is mixed with. Asbestos was molded into many different shapes and sizes to fill different needs. You can test the tile yourself or hire an asbestos professional to inspect and. The only way to safely know whether the roof tiles contain asbestos or not is to have a sample professionally checked under a microscope that uses polarized light.

Each mold has a different location that may be stamped with manufacturer s information. The only way to accurately identify asbestos roof tiles is to have them tested by a ukas accredited laboratory. Because asbestos was widely used before 1980 if you have flooring tiles that were installed before then you need to test a piece of the flooring to make sure it s safe. Asbestos roof tiles were used from the early 1920s all the way in to the late 1980s.

Crocidolite asbestos was also used in ceiling tile production. Accordingly if the material contains less than 1 asbestos it is safe and does not require removal. Providing samples for lab check. Armstrong produced the excelon tile series beginning with a plastic asbestos floor tile series in 1954 referring to the product as vinyl plastic asbestos floor tiles beginning in 1955 and vinyl asbestos tiles from 1957 to 1980.

9 inch squares 12 inch squares and 18 inch squares. Amosite asbestos also a widely used form of asbestos was used in some ceiling tiles as well as in roof and floor tiles. For example sheets of asbestos were used to make up walls and slats of asbestos were created to serve as roof tiles.