old tiles under laminate under Lino. What to do?

[lavenderhoney]

I've just pulled up a bit of the old laminate in my dining room to see what was under it- the rest of the house is due to have all the floorboards done soon and the dining room was going to be done last.

Under the bit of laminate I pulled off is very old thick Lino, ( yellow and black like a leopard:) and under that small reddish tiles.

What do I do with it? Can I board over it? Or have it polished or whatever you do and put rugs down? Reddish tiles do not match my colour scheme, I suppose they could be painted and rugs?

[SolomanDaisy]

I'd get everything ripped up and have a look at the tiles, to see what condition they're in. Painting would look terrible, so if you can't live with the red you will have to get them boarded. Be careful with the lino, it may have asbestos.

[TooMuchRain]

We had something similar but the final layer of tiles were broken so they all had to come up. We finally got back to the floorboards, they were not in good condition so we ended up laying bamboo boards on top. If the tiles are nice, I'd probably keep them.

[Gozogozo]

We had a similar 3 layer thing. When we reached the tiles, they weren't broken, builder screened it with self levelling concrete then ply & laminate. It was only meant to be a temporary job but it lasted us nearly 9 years ...

[Gozogozo]

screeded, even...

[lavenderhoney]

Asbestos? The lino or vynl or whatever it is seems all in one piece and very brittle. I bent it to look under it and it snapped with hardly any pressure. It's an old victorian terrace - how do I know if it's got asbestos?

I'm really worried now.

[youmakemydreams]

Asbestos can be a problem in older floors. I had to get a check before getting a new bathroom in and floorboards ripped up. Was told asbestos can be found in old floor tiles but not sure what sort specifically.

[SolomanDaisy]

There's a good chance there is asbestos in the Lino. The safest thing to do with asbestos Lino is just to leave it there and cover it up. That may be why it's still there. You can get a specialist company in to come and remove it for you.

[lavenderhoney]

My builder had a look at it and said its fine and yanked a load up. I hope he's right.