1951art

The asbestos report on our house indicates traces of asbestos in the vinyl floor tiles used in the lounge. I suspect these were laid in the 70s but they are, apart from being a little grubby with old varnish, in good sound condition. I am reluctant to disturb them by lifting them and wondered if anybody knew if it was possible/safe to ceramic floor tile over them? Having said that the report also indicated 'traces' of woodworm in the grenier and when I went up there my foot went straight through the oak floorboards. We were able to negotiate a E2000 reduction in the asking price and it cost me E4000 to have the entire place treated. C'est la vie.

Hi - I had the same problem with my kitchen but learnt from a bit of butchery that Barratts did on my new house a few years ago. They fixed the wrong tiles throughout and had to replace them - removal of the plasterboard was the chosen method and surprisingly it worked. (Serves me right for buying a Barratts house in the first place but having an older place in France at least means only one lot of renovation) The French board I removed (with a handsaw - be careful of wires/pipes that may run behind) had insulation attached. I took a sample to the local bricolage who identified the right stuff and provided me with the adhesive to attach it to the stone wall underneath. Once retiled over it looks really good and you would never know it had been patched in. Just try to ensure your new tile line overlaps the new joint. It really was a much simpler way of achieving the desired effect and I didn't end up with smashed tiles flying all over the place. Good luck