I'm removing the flooring sheets from an apartment, and I'd like to figure out whether it's linoleum (as we've been calling it this whole time) or vinyl sheets or what else.
Here a picture (more can be found here):
I'm wondering:
- Would you know whether it's Linoleum or Vinyl or what else? According to what I read on the internet I believe it's most likely Vinyl flooring (no uniform color, the sheet itself is just a couple of millimeters thin, it was installed around the '70s etc).
- How do I get rid of it? They say Vinyl flooring is made of PVC and is quite toxic. A dumpster is the way, isn't it?
- Most likely there's no asbestos, right? I'm just being paranoid here, since on the internet they seem to link vinyl flooring to asbestos a lot.
The apartment is located in a 14 store mid-to-low-end apartment building built in 1969 in West Berlin (West Germany), if this can help.
Thanks!
Best Answer
Linoleum™ is a brand name as well as a material, which makes it somewhat ambiguous here. You're referring to "inlaid" vinyl, where the color is all the way through, as opposed to modern vinyl with a transparent wear layer. Incidentally, Linoleum™ is still in production by Armostrong, and not all of it is inlaid.
It's more accurate to say that PVC is made from vinyl, or is a type of vinyl, than the other way around. It stands for polyvinyl chloride, and it isn't usually recyclable.
I'm not able to tell you where there's asbestos in your building from a photo. Get help from a local inspector if needed.