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 Self-Adhesive "Peel & Stick" Vinyl-Asbestos Floor Tiles Identification Photo Guide
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InspectAPedia tolerates no conflicts of interest. We have no relationship with advertisers, products, or services discussed at this website.
Asbestos-Containing Peel-and-Stick Floor Tiles: this article describes self-adhesive "peel and stick" vinyl floor tiles that contain or may contain asbestos. We include product names, descriptions, and photographs of asbestos-containing stick-on floor tile products including materials used in homes in the U.S. and Canada into at least the early 1980's.
Green links show where you are. © Copyright 2013 InspectAPedia.com, All Rights Reserved. Author Daniel Friedman.
Photo Guide to Peel & Stick or Self Adhesive Floor Tiles that May Contain Asbestos
Asbestos is safe and legal to remain in homes or public buildings as long as the asbestos
materials are in good condition and the asbestos can not be released into the air.
1982 - Armstrong Self-Adhesive Floor Tiles
Do Peel and Stick Floor Tiles Contain Asbestos?
- Vernay peel and stick floor tiles.
Armstrong Peel-and-Stick Floor vinyl floor tiles were introduced late in 1969, as we discussed at our Floor Tile History article entry for Peel and Stick / Self-Adhesive Floor Tiles.
Some, but apparently not all self-adhesive floor tiles made by Armstrong during the period 1969 - 1982 contained asbestos. The company stopped manufacturing these tiles with asbestos in December of 1982.
Not all adhesive floor tiles produced during this period contain asbestos. It is necessary to know the flooring product model number or collection name of a tile in question, or to submit a sample to an asbestos test laboratory to make a final determination. The peel-and-stick Armstrong floor tile shown in our photograph (above left) was from Armstrong's Vernay series, introduced in 1980 and discontinued in 1982. This product never contained asbestos.
- information courtesy of Armstrong Corporation.
Other Asbestos-Containing Peel-and-Stick self-Adhesive Floor Tiles
1980's American Biltrite Zip Stick & Amitco Sunbeam Pattern ZipStik flooring
American Biltrite Zip Stick 12x12 tiles in fact do contain asbestos as do a Canadian version of this flooring illustrated here.
The Amitco Sunbeam pattern Zip Stik floor tiles in our photos (below) contributed by reader P.T.
look the same except the packaging (if you have an original tile carton) will read "Manufactured by American Biltrite Canada".. These nominal 12"x12" self adhesive floor tiles were 305mm x 305mm, 0.080" or 2.03mm gauge (thickness).
These self-adhesive floor tiles were installed in a home built in the 1980's. The owner had a sample of these tiles tested for asbestos content and reported "The tests came back positive with Asbestos 5% Chrysotile. The tile was manufactured in Canada in 1981. "
At left in a third image of self adhesive floor tiles that contain asbestos we include additional packaging materials that illustrates how lot numbers may appear (the black stamped data). |
If you can identify your floor tile collection name or model number, laboratory testing of the sample to screen for asbestos may be unnecessary. (See ASBESTOS FLOOR TILE PHOTO ID GUIDE or send us a photograph of the flooring that you are trying to identify. Use the email address found at CONTACT.
Watch out: even if your vinyl tile or sheet vinyl flooring was installed some time after 1980, it is possible that an installer used 1980 or prior flooring materials that contained asbestos. Handle flooring demolition or grinding, sanding, polishing appropriately.
Modern Armstrong 12"x12" x 1/16" (1.5mm) Self-Adhesive "Stick-on" Floor Tiles
This Armstrong flooring tile is 12" x 12" x 1/16" or 1.5mm thick.
Unlike the older vinyl-asbestos floor tiles whose photographs we provide below, this more recent flooring product is built from a thin vinyl layer containing the tile's design pattern and a fiber/paper backer (shown in our photo above) to which an adhesive was coated so that the tile could be installed without use of a mastic.
A typical pattern is the embossed design shown at left.
The floor tile thickness (about 1.5mm or 1/16") suggests that this product was produced after 1980 and probably does not contain asbestos. |
Below we show a photo of the Armstrong© Stamp found on the under-side or "back" of 12 x 12 "stick-on" self-adhesive floor tiles produced by Armstrong.
 |
Depending on the age of manufacture, some paper-backed flooring products used asbestos as a primary ingredient (see Asphalt & Vinyl Floor Tile History). Tests of our example floor sample (above) for asbestos confirmed that some early peel-and-stick floor tiles sold in the 1980's did contain asbestos.
Contemporary resilient flooring products do not contain asbestos however.
Shown at left: Armstrong Excelon Vinyl Floor tile, contemporary, popular, sold in 70 colors at retail outlets including Home Depot stores, this modern resilient floor tile does not contain asbestos. [Click any image to see an enlarged, detailed version].
A catalog of floor tile identification photographs for products that contained asbestos, 1952 - 1980, is provided below at Armstrong Vinyl-Asbestos Floor Tile Photo ID Catalog - 1952 - 1986. And at Armstrong flooring history we provide a history of Armstrong flooring and links to company information.
Contact Us to send a photograph of your own floor tile pattern or for assistance in identification if you can't find your floor tile image, pattern, or design in this floor tile color and pattern library. |
How to Find Your Floor Tile or Sheet Flooring in this Flooring Reference Photo Guide
  
Asphalt asbestos and vinyl-asbestos floor tiles were produced in 9" x 9", 12" x 12", and even 18" x 18" as well as in decorative strips, and in thicknesses of 1/16", 3/32", and 1/8", also in 0.08 gauge. Some sheet flooring or resilient flooring also contained asbestos, as did floor tile mastics.
This photo guide to asphalt asbestos & vinyl asbestos floor tiles for each year shows at least one color photo of each floor tile style or pattern in an example color. A list below each group of photos includes the names of and links to additional photos for other colors of these styles.
Asbestos is safe and legal to remain in homes or public buildings as long as the asbestos
materials are in good condition and the asbestos can not be released into the air.
To identify a particular asphalt-asbestos or vinyl-asbestos floor tile pattern & color, start in the image group most likely to be the same age as your building.
If you don't find your floor tile or sheet flooring by looking forward from that that year, you should also look backwards in the earlier years as your specific flooring pattern & color may have first appeared in an earlier year. For other tile brands than Armstrong, see the brand name floor tile links included in this list.
If you can identify your floor tile collection name or model number, or if you recognize it in the extensive library of flooring color and pattern photographs provided in these pages, laboratory testing of the sample to screen the flooring for asbestos may be unnecessary. Our home page for asbestos-containing floor tiles is at ASBESTOS FLOOR TILE PHOTO ID GUIDE To send us photographs of possible asbestos-containing flooring that you are trying to identify, use the email address found at CONTACT. |
We have split this guide to Armstrong Asphalt Asbestos or Vinyl Asbestos Floor Tiles into the individual year range pages (dates of production) below in order to cut web page load time. If you prefer to see all of the reference photos in a single scrollable file, contact us and we can provide the full list in a single big and slow-loading file.
Many of the colors and patterns of asphalt-asbestos or vinyl-asbestos floor tiles were manufactured over many years and may appear in more than one of the floor tile photo collections listed by date range here.
For each year we list the names of the tile patterns sold during that year, we include representative color images of the floor tiles, and throughout the entire floor tile pattern & color history series we include each floor tile color & pattern of the floor tile in the first year that it appeared , and we include representative colors and patterns in other years.
Examples of floor tile packaging, labeling, and other information can be found throughout the flooring photo collections listed here.
More Reading
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about asbestos in peel & stick floor tiles
Question: What is the asbestos hazard from pulling up peel n press vinyl tile from 1983?
Hi. I started to pull up peel n press vinyl tile in my kitchen and now I'm very concerned about asbestos. ..I pulled up 2 tiles and stopped the project. I've been trying to research the tile, I have one left over box from previous owner - marked 1983 distinctive color tile produced by color tile in texas
There is beautiful linoleum tile underneath that I love
If I did release some asbestos fiber, how long does it linger ?
I appreciate your input
Thanks, F. S.
Reply:
Only by submitting a tile sample to a certified asbestos testing lab can we know for sure if your flooring contained asbestos, but it is indeed the case that we have some confirmed reports of self-adhesive or "peel and stick" floor tiles from the early 1980's that contained asbestos.
If you did not run power tools, saws, grinders, or sanders to make a significant level of dust, that is if you were able to pull up flooring largely intact, the risk of significant asbestos fiber release is probably low. Certainly it would be smart to either have a test performed on suspect material or just handle it with the same precautions you would take if you knew that it contained asbestos.
If you'd like to send along a photo of your tile and of any markings on its back side (or on packaging if you have it) we can help research the matter further.
...
Ask a Question or Search InspectApedia
Questions & answers or comments about asbestos in peel and stick flooring materials & flooring made or sold in the U.S., Canada, or other countries after 1980.
Ask a Question or Enter Search Terms in the InspectApedia search box just below.
Technical Reviewers & References
Related Topics, found near the top of this page suggest articles closely related to this one.
- Armstrong ® Residential Flooring - Website 05/15/2010 http://www.armstrong.com/ lists current flooring products provided by the Armstrong Corporation, including Armstrong's current vinyl floor tile products at http://www.armstrong.com/flooring/products/vinyl-floors
- Armstrong Corporation, Corporate History - http://www.armstrong.com/corporate/corporate-history.html - Web Search 05/19/2010
- Armstrong vinyl asbestos floor tiles: photos of asbestos-vinyl floor tiles as catalog pages (PDF form) are at www.asbestosresource.com/asbestos/tile.html
- Accoflex 2005 series semi-flexible vinyl tile Wonder flooring product description; Armstrong's Accoflex is a vinyl composition floor tile. WonderFlooring, Private Bag X02, Fordsburg 2033, Telephone: 011 298 8100, Fax: 011 836 4450, National Call Centere: 0860-29-80-80, Email: info@wonderflooring.com & marketing@wonfloor.com/ [2nd is a defective email address]
Web search 01/29/2011, original source: http://www.wonderflooring.com/accoflex/accoflextech2.pdf
Reference: Armstrong Flooring: Accotile, Accoflex & Coke Tile. Publication 333, Armstrong Flooring.
Note on use of the "Accoflex" name:
In addition to Accoflex flooring produced by Armstrong, Accoflex® is also a U.S. registered trademark used for Insulation Jackets For Industrial Pipes, Tanks and Conduits Including Flexible and Rigid Insulation In the Form of Foamed Synthetic Material Sheeting, owned by Armacell Enterprise Gmbh, Armstrong World Industries, Inc, also distributed in the U.K., Australia, & New Zealand, also in Indonesia. Armacell Australia Pty Ltd, a producer of engineered foams, (http://www.armacell.com/) was founded officially in August 2000 when the then Armstrong Insulation Products (Australia) became a separate legal entity from Armstrong World Industries group.
- "Asbestos in your home or at work," Forsyth County Environmental Affairs Department, Winston-Salem NC
12/08
- "Asbestos Floor Tile Removal", the University of Minnesota's advice on removing VAT (vinyl asbestos or asphalt asbestos floor tile) can be read in detail at www.health.state.mn.us/divs/eh/asbestos/floortile/index.html
- Copy on file as - /hazmat/Asbestos_in_Your_Home_US_EPA.pdf - Asbestos in Your Home - U.S. EPA, Exposure Evaluation Division, Office of Toxic Substances, Office of Pesticides and Toxic Substances, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington,D.C. 20460
- Resilient Floor Covering Institute, 1030 15th St. NW, suite 350, Washington D.C.
- Book Recommendations for Asphalt & Vinyl-Asbestos Floor Tile Identification:
- Asbestos products and their history and use in various building materials such as asphalt and vinyl flooring includes discussion which draws on Asbestos, Its Industrial Applications, D.V. Rosato, engineering consultant, Newton, MA, Reinhold Publishing, 1959 Library of Congress Catalog Card No.: 59-12535 (out of print).
- Congoleum Corporation, "Company History", Congoleum Corporation, Department C, P.O. Box 3127, Mercerville, NJ 08619-0127 1-609-584-3601, web-search 03/14/2011, original source: http://www.congoleum.com/history.html
- David Grudzinski,
Advantage Home Inspections,
is a professional home inspector in Cranston, RI. 02910. He can be reached at 401-935-6547,
fax- 401-490-0607 or by email to contact/us@advantagehomeinspections.us 04/26/2009
- EPA Guidance for Controlling Asbestos-Containing Materials in buildings, NIAST, National Institute on Abatement Sciences & Technology, [republishing EPA public documents] 1985 ed., Exposure Evaluation Division, Office of Toxic Substances, Office of Pesticides and Toxic Substances, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington,D.C. 20460
- EVER WEAR TILE CO is currently (2009) in the Terrazzo, Tile, Marble, and Mosaic Work industry in Fallon, NV. 775) 423-6221. [We do not know the company history nor whether there is an association with EverWear vinyl asbestos floor tiles discussed in this article.]
- Kentile KenFlex flooring photographs: Flickr web search 5/15/2010 - see original material and other asbestos product photos
- "Plastic Flooring Spreads Through the House", Jackson Hand, Guide to Home-Improvement Materials, Popular Science, April 1969, p. 154-158
- Thomas Hauswirth, Managing Member of Beacon Fine Home Inspections, LLC and (in 2007) Vice President, Connecticut Association of Home Inspectors
Ph. 860-526-3355 Fax 860-526-2942 beaconinspections@sbcglobal.net 06/07: thanks for photographs of transite asbestos heating ducts
- Gary Randolph, Ounce of Prevention Home Inspection, LLC Buffalo, NY, for attentive reading and editing suggestions. Mr. Randolph can be reached in Buffalo, NY, at (716) 636-3865
or email: gary@ouncehome.com
3/07
- Thanks to reader Matt Abel, Design Services Department, Strongwood Log Home Company,
711 Shadow Road, Waupaca WI 54981, Office (715) 258-4818, Toll Free (866) 258-4818, www.gostrongwood.com
"Begin your journey home.." for vinyl asbestos floor photos, October 2010.
- Thanks to reader Meryl Silvers for hexagonal floor tile photos showing a possible Kentile product that contained asbestos. October 2010.
- Thanks to reader N.H. for providing a photo of 1970's era vinyl asbestos floor tile that we identify as most likely Armstrong Solarian Devonport white.
- M.B.
provided photographs of Congoleum linoleum flooring from a 1960's Tampa Florida home.
- June 1997 - Window Putty - OSHA case cites contractor for asbestos exposure during removal of window putty http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=NEWS_RELEASES&p_id=1091
- Asbestos Identification and Testing References
- Asbestos Identification, Walter C.McCrone, McCrone Research Institute, Chicago, IL.1987 ISBN 0-904962-11-3. Dr. McCrone literally "wrote the book" on asbestos identification procedures which formed
the basis for current work by asbestos identification laboratories.
- Stanton, .F., et al., National Bureau of Standards Special Publication 506: 143-151
- Pott, F., Staub-Reinhalf Luft 38, 486-490 (1978) cited by McCrone
- Asbestos in Your Home U.S. EPA, Exposure Evaluation Division, Office of Toxic Substances, Office of Pesticides and Toxic Substances, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington,D.C. 20460
- Asbestos products and their history and use in various building materials such as asphalt and vinyl flooring includes discussion which draws on Asbestos, Its Industrial Applications, D.V. Rosato, engineering consultant, Newton, MA, Reinhold Publishing, 1959 Library of Congress Catalog Card No.: 59-12535 (out of print, text and images available at InspectAPedia.com).
- "Handling Asbestos-Containing roofing material - an update", Carl Good, NRCA Associate Executive Director, Professional Roofing, February 1992, p. 38-43
- EPA Guidance for Controlling Asbestos-Containing Materials in buildings, NIAST, National Institute on Abatement Sciences & Technology, [republishing EPA public documents] 1985 ed., Exposure Evaluation Division, Office of Toxic Substances, Office of Pesticides and Toxic Substances, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington,D.C. 20460
- ...
Books & Articles on Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, & Repair
 The Home Reference Book - the Encyclopedia of Homes, Carson Dunlop & Associates, Toronto, Ontario, 25th Ed., 2012, is a bound volume of more than 450 illustrated pages that assist home inspectors and home owners in the inspection and detection of problems on buildings. The text is intended as a reference guide to help building owners operate and maintain their home effectively. Field inspection worksheets are included at the back of the volume. Special Offer: For a 10% discount on any number of copies of the Home Reference Book purchased as a single order. Enter INSPECTAHRB in the order payment page "Promo/Redemption" space. InspectAPedia.com editor Daniel Friedman is a contributing author.
Or choose the The Home Reference eBook for PCs, Macs, Kindle, iPad, iPhone, or Android Smart Phones. Special Offer: For a 5% discount on any number of copies of the Home Reference eBook purchased as a single order. Enter INSPECTAEHRB in the order payment page "Promo/Redemption" space.
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