Floors
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Floors
Oct 2008
I recently learned my kitchen floor (where my older child crawled and
my younger child is about to start crawling) is made with asbestos.
We're deciding between just covering it with a new floor, like linoleum
or glue-down cork tiles, and having it removed. We think there is a
nice fir floor underneath and would love to have that refinished.
Anyone deal with this? What did you do (cover it, remove it, or choose
to live with it) and how happy are you with the outcome?
want safe floors
We removed our asbestos floor in our kitchen of our previous home
while I was pregnant with our first child. We found a beautiful
fir floor underneath that was easy to refinish. We did have to
pay a hazardous materials fee for the floor to be removed. I
don't remember the cost (almost 9 years ago) but it could not
have been too much as we did not have that much to spend. Good luck.
Lisa
My family has gone through asbestos removals. They are expensive
and the best contractors get sloppy. If you have it removed hire
another company to test the contractors work and don't let the
contractor arrange to have the air tested. Have the testing
company use a process that tests specifically for asbestos
particles and not general particles in the air, it is expensive
but worth it. My personal opinion and the one of many physicians
is to have the asbestos covered up. It is not hazardous unless
pulled up.
concerned parent
Are you sure that there's asbestos in the tiles? In most cases,
it's the glue where the asbestos resides, and since the glue is
under the tiles instead of on them, they're of no danger to you
UNTIL you disturb it. IF this is the case, and you're set on
tearing it out, the demolition needs to be handled very
carefully. Use an expert company like Synergy, and beware the
contractor who poo-poohs the condition, lest he contaminate
your house.
Berkeley Choate
We covered our asbestos-backed 1950s vinyl flooring up with
bamboo, laid right over the top of it. You could do this with
cork, linoleum, laminate, hardwood, etc.; I've known a number of
people who handled it this way. The asbestos only becomes a
problem when it starts flaking and gets into the air, so sealing
it up with another floor covering is a good way to go. If you
want it removed, it will cost quite a bit more. You will have
to disclose that it's under there whenever you sell the house,
but otherwise I don't think it's a big deal to leave it, as
scary as it seems when you first find out about it.
Practical
We had tested a cross-section of kitchen floor coverings in our
1910 house and were told that there was asbestos in one of the layers. I had read somewhere
that the glue that is used to affix flooring can be dissolved with boiling water.
As water will prevent flaking asbestos from becoming airborne, we put on high
construction boots (from Ashby) and rubber gloves, borrowed a linoleum scraper from the tool
lending library, got out all our large pots and filled them with water, boiled and poured it
on the floor in sections, then scraped it up! What a mess. Took about a half day to complete.
A large string mop and squeezer mob bucket completed our set of tools. Bagged it all (put a heavy
duty trash bag in the backyard) and discarded it as hazardous waste. We have
an unfinished basement so the water did drip down a bit but most we mopped up before it seeped through.
Not too difficult and the price was right. We then sanded and varathaned the fir floors underneath.
Spectacular difference!
Kathy
We had a new kitchen floored installed. The old floor had
asbestos in it (I cut off a small piece and had it tested by a
Berkeley lab). We hired an asbestos abatement firm to do the
removal, and we're glad we didn't trust the job to the flooring
contractor. Obviously, we paid extra but came away with peace of
mind.
Anon
asbestos tile is not super dangerous because it's comprised-- but
when you pry it up, be sure to keep things damp to avoid friable
particulate matter from getting into the air.
Lem
[Editor] see also: Advice about Asbestos
Feb 2008
I live in a one-story Berkeley bungalow with a 4 ft. crawlspace
beneath and wood floors - in some rooms, the original douglas fir
subfloor is the main floor - and our floors are ice cold. Radiant
heat is out of the question financially, but I've heard
suggestions of either putting spray or traditional insulation
under the house to help keep the floors warmer. Are there other
suggestions out there that people have tried (and worked)?
Slippers and area rugs help, but maybe there's another way to
better insulate the floor, period? Thanks!
Cold Feet
It sounds like you need to insulate your floors!
I had the floors insulated in my 1920s house and didn't mention
it to my tenant. My tenant called me that night to thank me for
making the house so much more comfortable.
In the last year I have worked with All Seasons Insulation and
McHales. I recommend you call All Seasons at 800 905 7965 to
get your floor joists insulated ASAP.
Regarding radiant floors, a radiant heating system does not
need to cost an arm and a leg if kept simple. If you were
really interested in keeping your toes toasty warm that would
be the way to go.
George
Dear Ice cold feet:
you (or i) can install traditional insulation between the floor
joists. It is a dirty job but it can most likely be done in a
day.
I did this in my house in Massachusetts and it worked very well.
-Oren
I installed R19 under my wood floors, this helped slightly but
the floors were still cold. Radiant heat made a huge difference.
If you are handy it's inexpensive to install in homes with
crawlspaces. I spent about $1600-$2000 in parts cost and a lot
of my own labor but it was worth it. Berkeley has mild winters,
your water heater and a single pump are plenty to heat a small
house. This is called an ''open system.'' You need to plumb it so
a shower flushes cold water through the floor keeping the system
fresh. There are at least two websites that sell packages that
cut down on the amount of plumbing you need to do, I bought some
parts from them, some from ebay, easier to just get it all from
one place. Search for ''radiant heat'' on google and look for the
two stores that provide both prices and info (diagrams etc...)
What's required:
1/2'' pex tubing roughly 1.2 feet per sqft, tube talons or pex staples
mylar coated bubble wrap and R19 insulation
Grundfos UP15-18SU pump , controller and thermostat
3/4'' one way valve, ball values and other 3/4'' copper fittings
and pipe, pressure test kit and bike pump.
3/4 copper to 1/2 pex compression adapters.
1-1/2'' drill bit and right angle drill (tool library should have
this)
Skills:
Copper sweating,
Basic wiring,
Ability to bend pex tubing without kinking it (takes practice)
You could start with one room for about $800 in parts and add a
room at a time for roughly $300 in parts.
Big cost is labor, it is at least a week of work to get one room
up and working for someone inexperienced.
Alex
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Last updated: Oct 29, 2008
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