Ok so I have this old house. I've torn up this old carpet and I'm putting in Engineered hard wood flooring. It will "float" due to the fact that it is a concrete slab that it sits on.

When I tore the carpet up I had a mix of concrete and 15' x 12' of old vinyl asbestos tiles. I was advised by one flooring company to leave the tiles down and level the floor with a leveling compound.

I did just that. Cleaned the floor, removed the loose tiles and primed the floor with a latex based leveling primer. I then poured the leveling compound. Looks great.

24 hours later I began to bring in boxes of the flooring and sit them on the floor.
One box of wood and the leveling compound fractured. It fractured with hairline cracks that exactly followed the pattern of tiles, right along where they met each other. Now it makes some noise when you push on the cracks, you know the sound of concrete cracking.

Do you think I should tear the whole floor up, asbestos included and relevel the floor or just put the foam layer down and begin laying the floor.

Uneducated opinions wanted
Educated Opinions preferred.

 

going to be tough to get answers...we're debating whether it is called stuffing or dressing right now...

as for your problem...I cant help ya....

 

What's the debate....it's stuffing

[off to find this odd stuffing thread]

 

I would rip it all up, as much as I wouldnt want to. Do it right or do it twice. Good luck.

 

I hate you now...

I've gotten opinions both ways. I think like you but if I dont have to I dont want to. Many people have told me I'm worrying about this too much.

 

Have you lost sleep over this issue? If "yes", then they are correct, you are worrying too much.

Actually, you should have written:

"Educated opinions preferred.
Uneducated opinions accepted."

Either way, while I am uneducated in the way of the do-it-yourselfer (especially with regard to toxic materials and technical floor stuff), I am educated and experienced in life matters and common sense, and this maxim:

"Do it right or do it twice."

applies to everything.

The fact that you state:

demonstrates that you know what you should do, but for some reason you can't (or won't) bring yourself to do it.

This means there are probably secondary issues troubling you right now. Maybe it has something to do with that thing you did back when that other thing happened. Yeah, that's probably it, isn't it. This has nothing to do with the floor, it's all about when, you know, what's her name called that time. Of course.

Well then, there's only one thing you can do, and you know what I mean. That's right, you know what I'm talking about. You knew this all along. Why did you let it reach this point?!?!?!

Oh yeah, with regard to what's NOT really troubling you, I'd stay away from messing with that asbestos stuff. I'd hire someone to take care of that. But either way, do it right the first time or do it twice. Wise words indeed!

 

wear a mask and turn it out and put your foam down.. if you have family over con one of them in to working with the asbestos...

 

I should have gotten on a couch before reading Kobi's post.

Um...thanks....I think.

 

If it cracked, that probably means something is loose. Leveling compound cracked when the tiles moved. Best bet is to tear it all up.

 

The handy mans secret weapon!


It'll be alright, just do it!

 

I would also tear it out.

One other question, though. Why do you want a floating engineered wood floor over concrete slab? I installed 800 sf of Brazilian Walnut engineered wood flooring on top of a concrete slab foundation and did the glue down method. There are no hollow sounding areas, no creaks, etc. A floating floor, even with a pad underneath, will still have that hollow sound.

This is prior to installing the quarter round:

 

I installed a floating floor in my house with the same type of floor tile as you have, those that were loose I removed and replaced with a new tile and then installed the floating wood floor. I think the the tile place perhaps were thinking that you just level the missing tiles. In reto thinking I would have sprayed the tiles with a spray adhesive or a paint to seal the tiles.


How ever, now the best is to remove the old tile. use a resperator not a paper mask and get a sharp large floor scraper not the ones with the olfa blade but a sidewalk scraper ( also used to scrape concrete off of forms.
Any place that sells tile commercially or concrete suplies would have some. The tiles will for the most part pop up pretty easly.

Seal off the other rooms from air born particals with plastic drop sheets over the doors and also the cold air returns. remove clothing to the washer and shower right ofter. double bag the ties as you go this also helps minamize the hazards. I would use a floor sweeping compound in the final cleaning as the oil in the sweep also holds the dust and particals, a shop vac only blows it around with the exhaust unless yoiu have extra hose to vent it outside.

The asbestos hazard is low from this type of product. The leveler will also seal a lot of the asbestos particles to the tile. Is the leveling compound also cementious. if so there is also silica present.

good luck

 

^ very nice

If I remember correctly asbestos tiles were more commonly made in 8" or 9" tiles... not standard 12". I could be wrong but, nonetheless I would take caution and do pretty much what silversvt04 said. You may want to think about sealing the floor off after you have scraped ALL of the glue and tiles off. You can even use something as easy as "oops" or "mismatched" paint from your local paint supplier.

Also make sure to let your engineered wood acclimate to the room's temp/humid/etc. for 24-48 hrs (or whatever is reccommended from the maufacturer - there is usually a slip in the box or it'll say in fine print on the back of the box).

Gl and post pics

 

Hey vader, trust me on this one and tear the tiles and leveler out, just make sure you wear a GOOD mask!(a resporater) I have 16 years of experience in this trade and I know what I speak of. If you continue with what you have, you will forever hear that leveling compound underneath making some kind of noise. Did the section of floor you used it on still have something coating it, like old vinyl glue or something? Most self leveling compounds I've used usually stick to the concrete pretty good, though you have to make sure there isn't any old compounds still coating the floor. And no matter what "that" flooring place told you, you always want a clean slate to work on. You never really know how well the old stuff, be it vinyl, ceramic or wood, was installed, and whether it will in fact "stay down" ( unless of course you are the original installer). Doing it any other way would be just plain lazy and would not make for a proper job. I don't short change any of my customers like that, and you shouldn't short change yourself. Besides, you'll appreciate your floor even more for a job that's done the right way! Oh yeah to everything silver and wrobo posted too.

 

Stuffing is what goes inside the turkey, dressing is what goes on the outside. But stuffing can be dressing if you pull it out of the bird then "dress" the presentation. Thought I would make this clear.