How To Remove Asbestos Tile Safely And Easily: DIY Steps

Posted by Michael Griffin on July 23rd, 2019

What Is Asbestos?

The term which is used to refer to six naturally occurring minerals, they are composed of thin fibrous crystals that can be released in the atmosphere and be harmful to people. It is a difficult task to remove asbestos but also necessary as it exposes and causes several cancer diseases. Considering the removal, it is said to be an easy task forasbestos tile removal in Colorado springs.

Working with asbestos flooring can release toxic dust. While the lack of awareness in the past has led to many workers suffering from terrible diseases such as mesothelioma, asbestosis, and cancer.
Workers must take precautions to remove asbestos floor tiles safely, and it is always safest to leave asbestos removal to qualified professionals, but if you want to do it on your own, you need to be more aware as it is time-consuming and requires a lot of effort.

What makes Asbestos Flooring Dangerous?

As the research shows, asbestos are considered as toxic materials and once they are mixed with the old materials at the time of building constructions, they release toxic gas harming people making them sick.

It is highly dangerous as you breathe in microscopic asbestos fibers, they get stuck in your body forever. The human body cannot dissolve asbestos. Instead, the asbestos fibers may eventually  build up the scar tissue or genetic changes that lead to cancer.
There are nearly thousands of tradesmen who spent their careers working with asbestos materials and have died due to inhaling the same.. Even though the use of asbestos is now limited in the U.S., thousands still die every year because of past uses of this toxic mineral which gets stuck in their body till forever.
It is safe to assume that any type of flooring material that was put down before 1980 contains asbestos. So basically, without a manufacturer’s label, you can’t tell whether a product has asbestos in it or not.

How To Remove Asbestos Tiles Safely On Your Own:

There are numerous Asbestos technicians who are readily available for asbestos tile removal in colorado springs, but since you plan on doing it yourself, here are a few steps you must take into account:

Equipments & Precautions Required:

  • Plastic sheets to seal off the work area: To keep the safety up to the point, you must cover the air vents, doors, and windows with plastic flaps for proper ventilation.
  • Respirator with a high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter: Well, covering and having protection from asbestos. You must need a high quality mask as the ordinary mask does not protect from the microscopic asbestos fiber. You must require at least a full-face mask with a HEPA filter.
  • An air purifier with a HEPA filter: Setting up such an air-purifier reduces the risk of contamination.
  • Disposable coveralls and gloves: As asbestos is a hard substance and almost seems impossible to wash out of clothes. You must wear gloves so that asbestos doesn't catch your hands and clothes.
  • Wet wipes or a HEPA vacuum: Make sure to clean the area and all the tools with wet wipes in order to avoid the stirred up asbestos dust.
  • Pump sprayer filled with water: Keeping the asbestos material wet helps the dust to prevent from entering into the air. You must spray the flooring on old adhesive underneath and keep it damp all the time.
  • Sealable plastic bags for disposal.: All the asbestos material should be collected, gathered up and disposed of in specially designed disposable bags in order to eliminate any kind of hassle for the surrounding people.

Like it? Share it!


Michael Griffin

About the Author

Michael Griffin
Joined: May 16th, 2018
Articles Posted: 174

More by this author