Asbestos was commonly used in vinyl floor tiles and lino thanks to its durability and longevity.
What isn’t such common knowledge though, is the fact that certain types of floor coverings were adhered to the substrate with asbestos containing adhesives. These in fact present a much higher danger to human health, due to being friable.
Our Northern Division recently completed a friable asbestos flooring removal job on the North Coast of NSW, where they took extreme precautions to ensure the health and safety of our asbestos removers and of course the long-term health of the home-owners.
Being friable asbestos removal, this job required encapsulation to prevent microscopic asbestos fibres from escaping the area and infiltrating the air. They also used negative air ventilation units and more rigid removal procedures than would be employed for a non-friable asbestos removal job.
To remove the floor covering itself, the team used heat guns to soften the glue, directly followed by mechanical lifters.
The cost of such labour intensive work may seem prohibitive to some, but when compared with such a high threat to health, and of course the financial fines for attempting to remove asbestos oneself, it quickly becomes an easy choice to select highly experienced asbestos removers to complete the job.
If you’re looking to purchase a property, whether it be residential or commercial, it can pay off to have an asbestos inspection completed prior to purchase.
It is estimated by the Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency, that one third of all Australian homes still contain asbestos in some form or amount.
If you have concerns regarding asbestos at home or work – get in touch with HTS Group.
