How To Tell If Roof Tiles Are Asbestos

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.

How to tell if roof tiles are asbestos. Amosite asbestos also a widely used form of asbestos was used in some ceiling tiles as well as in roof and floor tiles. 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. The most common size for asbestos tiles is 9 inches by 9 inches. Ceilings were also covered with cement asbestos products as a fire barrier in boiler rooms and similar locations.

The result of the test will lead you to the next step. 9 inch squares 12 inch squares and 18 inch squares. Asbestos was molded into many different shapes and sizes to fill different needs. The only way to know for sure whether your roof contains asbestos is to have a sample tested by professionals in a certified laboratory.

Resilient sheet flooring containing asbestos was also produced finding wide use as early as 1968. Providing samples for lab check. Crocidolite asbestos was also used in ceiling tile production. When asbestos tiles were still in production they came in three sizes.

This is because until the 1980s asbestos was not fully recognised to be hazardous to the health of anyone exposed to its fibres. The only way to accurately identify asbestos roof tiles is to have them tested by a ukas accredited laboratory. Accordingly if the material contains less than 1 asbestos it is safe and does not require removal. If you re already suspicious about the potential for asbestos measure the tiles to see if they fit one of these three sizes.

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. Asbestos roof tiles are usually square shaped and their colour is generally a combination of grey and black. Each mold has a different location that may be stamped with manufacturer s information. Asbestos roof tiles were used from the early 1920s all the way in to the late 1980s.

Older building have a higher probability of containing asbestos building materials. For example sheets of asbestos were used to make up walls and slats of asbestos were created to serve as roof tiles. Generally tiles containing asbestos do have a gray white or bluish white color.