asbestos testing removal in old lino

Hi there I have layers of old lino over floorboards in a late 50's house. The lino is in one sheet and isn't glued to the floor, just sitting on top of newspaper sheets. I am assuming the lino would have asbestos in it, so I am thinking maybe to just get a quote to have it removed. Or does anybody know of testing labs that offer cheap testing as I would need quite a few samples done. I have had a look online and all the labs seem to charge around $90 per sample. I thought I might have got away with the loungeroom floor which just has a piece of carpet sitting on top of floorboards, but on closer inspection, among the paint splotches, there are some small rough spots of glue/ cardboard maybe old lino backing?, so I am now thinking not a good idea to sand. There are not many of these spots, so reading online if I wet and scrape them off, I should be okay? I don't know - maybe I just call in the experts, but I thought somebody here may have relevant experience. I really have no idea... Thanks.
 
If your lino is sitting loose on top of newspaper, I would not think it is a concern regarding asbestos? Our son had lino glued down in his kitchen and we had the asbestos people remove it when they removed the other asbestos because the backing could be disturbed if we tried to scrape it up ourselves.

Maybe get onto an asbestos removal company and ask them?

Our other son had samples taken in his house to find our what sort of asbestos he was dealing with (ordinarily bad stuff or VERY bad friable stuff) in different areas of the house, and each test cost about $40 (Brisbane).

Luckily if was just ordinarily bad stuff and one downstairs ceiling area cost $3K for removal (large area though) whereas if it was the really nasty friable stuff, they would have had to bring in a safety officer to supervise, have negative pressure enclosure etc and would have been $9K just for that area.
 
Thanks AJB and Wylie - could you give me the contact details of where you got your asbestos testing done? Wylie, I am hoping that the lino can just be lifted up and carried out, but the edges are old and crumbly and I'm sure little bits will come off - and fibres if it is asbestos!
Cheers Sharon
 
We've used Total Asbestos Removal several times. If you have a photo of the edge, why not send it to them via email and ask Somah his opinion? I've found him to be very helpful.

If there is any doubt, send it for testing to be sure.

This is the link to the Brisbane site and you could email a photo here. Hopefully they could help you...

http://www.total-asbestos.com.au
 
You may even have some luck with roofing companies who are licensed for asbestos removal - lino is bonded asbestos so rolling up and putting into 2x200 micron plastic isn't too hard.

As for testing, check out Amdel, Noel Arnold etc (or the roofing company might have some leads).

Wylie, all asbestos is bad (it just that the friable types [non-bonded} are more likely to cause health issues being able to release fibres more readily).
 
Wylie, all asbestos is bad (it just that the friable types [non-bonded} are more likely to cause health issues being able to release fibres more readily).

I know all asbestos is bad and I didn't mean to imply otherwise (I did say "ordinarily bad" and "VERY bad friable stuff") ;).

It just seems that the question is whether or not the lino has asbestos "in" it at all. If it does, then it needs to be disposed of properly. I'm not suggesting otherwise.

Does all lino contain asbestos? Only older stuff?
 
No, it was mainly found in the hessian backing under the lino. They used to recycle the hessian sacks which carried the asbestos as the backing to the lino. I recall that in some instances they did use asbestos in the lino tiles as micro-reinforcement but it is in a very stable environment.
 
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