Is this black mastic?

Discussion in 'Subfloor Preparation' started by Hannahx7, Sep 19, 2022.

  1. Hannahx7

    Hannahx7 New Member

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    Hi all,

    I’m in the process of renovating the kitchen of our old house. We’ve had flooring changed previously but always had vinyl roll flooring as far as I can remember and I never really paid attention to what was under.

    just pulled the flooring up and there is this black layer underneath which looks smooth but then looks like tiles that can come up and are black, with some that have lifted and snapped. I’ve done some googling and learned about black mastic and asbestos so don’t want to try pull more up and break it away if it is that. Anyone give me advice on what they think this is and how to either remove it or seal it so I can cover with flooring properly. Thanks.
     

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  2. merit

    merit Well-Known Member

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    Old plastic tiles on bitumen. Either test them for asbestos. Have a company remove them or cover them with a Ardex NA levelling compound and float something over them.

    Should really be removed if you can
     
  3. Hannahx7

    Hannahx7 New Member

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    thank you for this. I’ve reached out to a few companies for removal prices but I’m a bit worried about the cost of this. In an unfortunate situation where I’ve just been made redundant so I’m worried I won’t be able to afford removal through a company. Would it be a difficult job to use that leveller and apply it myself to seal it? Thanks again.
     
  4. merit

    merit Well-Known Member

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    Yeah they will charge a lot to remove asbestos tiles. You can have them tested fairly cheap. May be worth doing that first. They will test the tile and adhesive. Either way you will need to use a levelling compound. Unless it’s flat. Leave them down, underlay over the top and floor over that.
    If your looking to put a lvt floor down its going to be expensive process
     
  5. Hannahx7

    Hannahx7 New Member

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    perfect, thank you. I’ll purchase a testing kit today. In terms of levelling and encapsulating, would the product you mentioned above do the trick?

    i did look at lvt flooring but I think I’ll just stick with roll out vinyl instead.
     
  6. tarkett85

    tarkett85 Well-Known Member

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    Sheet vinyl is the same prep as LVT


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
  7. dazlight

    dazlight Super Moderator

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    Go for a decent quickstep laminate
     
  8. Amev

    Amev New Member

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    Hope you don't mind my joining this thread, but I am a bit concerned as we have just removed some tiles which look as though they have uncovered a similar looking floor to yours. It is a 1960's house, was built as a police house we think, but looking on the web it appears it may have been built like local authority and we have uncovered down to a bitumin (?glue) layer. We did not realise the tiles may contain asbestos and just removed them ourselves. Firstly, we hope that has not caused any health damage - tiles been taken to local tip. Secondly, my son wants to lay tiles on the floor which requires some levelling to bring it up to match the concrete level of an extension that was built later. What would he have to do to prepare the floor where the bitumin glue is in order to prevent the tiles not sticking etc. Some form of levelling needs to be done. What would you advise? Could be as much as 1.5-2 cm differential in some places. I think some of the people we have seen to quote for this job are perhaps not familiar with the fact that this black layer may need some extra preparation. Would really appreciate your expertise knowledge. Thank you
     
  9. merit

    merit Well-Known Member

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    Ardex NA straight over it. Not a problem.
     
  10. Amev

    Amev New Member

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    Thank you for that. There is also a section of the floor which is just concrete which was put in as an extension before my son bought the house. Should we Ardex NA that too? Problem is that floor is currently not level, so do we put the Ardex on the bitumin layer and the higher concrete layer before putting a levelling compound on? Many thanks.
     

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