In everyday Finnish usage, Bituliitti means two different things: the black bitumen-based adhesive used to fix floor coverings, and bitumen-based building boards. Asbestos was used as a binder in both, particularly from the 1950s to the 1970s.
Where was Bituliitti used?
- Fixing vinyl tiles - a black layer of adhesive under 30 x 30 cm tiles
- Gluing down vinyl flooring and linoleum - especially onto concrete floors
- Bedding adhesive under parquet - a common find in older apartment buildings
- Damp proofing - bitumen coatings in cellars and wet rooms
- Bitumen boards - windbreak and substrate boards
How do you recognise asbestos-containing Bituliitti?
Bituliitti usually only comes to light once the surface material - the tile, the flooring or the parquet - is lifted. The signs to look for:
- A black or dark brown, hard layer of adhesive on the surface of the concrete
- A glossy or semi-matt surface that crumbles into flakes when scraped
- The building was completed before the 1980s
Asbestos cannot be confirmed by eye - asbestos-free bitumen adhesives were used as well. Laboratory analysis is the only certain way to find out, and a small scraping of adhesive is enough for a sample.
Why is Bituliitti a problem during renovation?
Removing asbestos-containing adhesive from a floor is asbestos removal work. Sanding the adhesive is particularly dangerous - during floor levelling or concrete grinding, for instance, the fibres spread very efficiently into the room air. That is why Bituliitti has to be checked before any floor renovation:
- Detach a small piece of adhesive as a sample (dampen it first and wear disposable gloves)
- Send the sample to our laboratory - the analysis costs 39,90 € + VAT
- Negative result: the floor can be sanded and levelled as normal
- Positive result: order the removal of the adhesive from an authorised asbestos removal company - see the price of asbestos removal
If the renovation involves several suspect materials, a full asbestos survey (from 119 € incl. VAT) covers all the samples in one go.