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Advice on basement flooring over asbestos tile; vinyl planks?

8 years ago

We are remodeling a family room in the basement of our 1910 home. Our contractor doesn't do flooring and after some unanticipated waterproofing expenses, looking at possibly DIYing our floor to save money.

Currently we have asbestos tiles in the approx 300 sq ft we are finishing and we were advised to leave them as undisturbed as possible. We'll pull up any loose ones and leave the rest.

What sort of prep to the existing floor would we need if installing vinyl planks over the top? Would a self-leveling compound be enough? Do we need some other sort of underlayment? We shouldn't be having any water issues now (and actually never had any in the room we are finishing but needed to address the water issue elsewhere) but like any basement, it can be damp at times.

Would vinyl planks be a good option for a basement? Some of the wood-look ones seem really nice and the price is comparable to any of the sheet vinyls I would want.

Appreciate any advice on prepping the floor and installation of vinyl planks.

Featured Answer

sebringideas

6 years ago

@threegraces I just read your 2015 post regarding installing vinyl over asbestos tile. We have an identical situation and I would like to know what you ended up doing, and if you are pleased with the result. Thanks.

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Comments (7)

glennsfc
8 years ago
If the tiles loose, you cannot place anything over them. Question is "how loose" are they? And...will they stay well bonded?
threegraces
Original Author
8 years ago
Good question - some are entirely loose, but the rest? Not sure how well they will stay down. Ugh, it's always something, isn't it? What happens if we put a leveling compound over the top of them. Will that keep them stuck down?
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glennsfc
8 years ago
No.
threegraces
Original Author
8 years ago
Any suggestions? Do we need to put a subfloor over the tiles? What would be a good choice there that is as thin as possible. In a basement, every inch counts.
glennsfc
8 years ago
Take out the tiles, prep the substrate and go from there. As for applying a self-leveling underlayment over the existing tile...you'd have to examine the bond of the tile to the slab to determine if it is likely that the tile will remain bonded. If most all of it is welded to the slab, then proper prep and priming of the tile would be necessary before applying the leveling product. I believe most cementious underlayment manufacturers frown on applying over tile, but that may have changed. Ask them. Their technical departments are good at giving out good information.
User
8 years ago
It's really a matter of how well the adhered tiles are stuck. If you can get something like one of those roofing tear up bars underneath and pop the tiles up in full pieces, you aren't likely to generate much asbestos dust. The adhesive can have asbestos also so it could be wet scraped and picked up with a wet vac with a capture bag.

If the tiles are adhered such that they break into little pieces, you can likely float where the loose tiles came up and put a new floor over the top.

There's also floating vinyl floors that sound like an ideal solution for your situation but I know little about the efficacy or quality of these products.

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