Asbestos in vinyl flooring (stairs)

[Gummigunnar]

Hello,

I have a staircase in the hall with three steps that I plan to cover with parquet flooring.

The plan was to remove the carpet and sand away glue residues, and then glue the parquet on.

For safety, I sent a piece for asbestos analysis. Got this answer today:

"Unfortunately - but good to know - the back of the carpet (the white part) is a so-called asbestos backing with a very high concentration of asbestos."

So now the question is how I should proceed to install my parquet steps...

How would you do it?

 

[Silver78]

Asbestos is not dangerous as long as you don't disturb it. You can hire a remediation company to seal it off and sand it away for you. You can do it yourself if you're careful and meticulous. What you do is make sure all the materials are in place. Then you tape plastic to form a sealed zone around the staircase because you don't want the dust anywhere else. Then you need clothes that can be discarded afterward and ideally a full mask with a PP3 filter. The sander should have a collector and an H13 filter. Once you've finished sanding, wet wipe all surfaces in the zone twice. If you don't have these things yourself, it quickly becomes not so expensive for a professional company. I would guess it costs somewhere between 4000-6000 SEK for the work. The labor effort is small, but the call-out fee is quite hefty. I had an entire 30 square meter floor asbestos remediated, and it cost 11000 SEK. In that case, the call-out fee was just over 3000 SEK.

 

[Gummigunnar]

Asbestos is not dangerous as long as you don't disturb it. You can hire a remediation company that will enclose and sand it away for you. You can do it yourself if you are thorough and careful. What you do is ensure all the materials are in place. Then tape plastic to create a sealed zone around the staircase because you don't want the dust anywhere else. Then you need clothes that will be discarded afterward and preferably a full mask with a pp3 filter. The sander should have a collector and an h13 filter. Once you've finished sanding, wipe all surfaces in the zone twice with a damp cloth. If you don't have these things yourself, it quickly becomes not so expensive for a professional company. I would estimate that it costs somewhere between 4000-6000 SEK for the work. The amount of work is small, but the setup fee is quite hefty. I asbestos-remediated an entire floor of 30 square meters, and it cost 11000 SEK. The setup fee was over 3000 SEK.

Thanks for the great answer.
If I choose to remove the carpet, it will probably be done by a company.

It would be most comfortable to leave the carpet as it is and place the treads on top of it. But the question is whether it can be done in a good way...

Glue the treads to the carpet..? >

 

[Silver78]

Now that you know the shit exists and it's not certain you'll remember it next time, my advice is not to build it in. It probably won't turn out well either if the glue doesn't get a good grip.

 

[TheGame]

Isn't it possible to remove the entire steps instead.

 

[Gummigunnar]

Can't the entire step be removed instead.

Yes, I was kind of considering that solution too

 

[Gummigunnar]

Would it work to buy ready-made stair treads with nosing and glue the carpet on, then screw the treads from underneath?

 

[salkin85]

Screw glue onto a thin plywood. Then glue the steps onto it.

 

[Gummigunnar]

Screw glue onto a thin ply. Then glue the steps onto it.

Smart! Leaning towards that solution. Thanks!