Should I keep old 1970s basement tile or cover it up?
Finding vintage vinyl tile in a basement leaves homeowners torn between preserving an orange patterned floor, worrying about asbestos, and figuring out whether the material can be salvaged or used as a subfloor. Because they don't know the manufacturer or whether it's safe to restore, people struggle to decide whether to get rid of the tile entirely or try to put it back in service.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Covering the tile back up with a new layer of flooring
- 2Searching for a similar pattern made by a modern manufacturer
- 3Cleaning and waxing the existing tile instead of removing it
- 4Pulling out the carpet and attempting to clean or re-grout the old tile
- 5Installing new tile over the existing solid tile
- 6Removing all of the old tile and laying down brand new tile
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Found vintage 70’s tile in my split-level basement. Keep or cover it back up?”source ↗
“I like the orange pattern tile but is there any concern for asbestos?”source ↗
“If we decide to keep it, any way to figure out the manufacturer or pattern name so I can search for replacements?”source ↗
“Is there any hope of getting that tile back in service or are we better off yanking the carpet and using the old tile as a base for new tile, or should we get rid of all the old tile and lay new tile where it was?”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
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- 2How to match vinyl flooring to existing wood
- 3Should I tear out old plaster or put drywall over it?