I have a question. Did all old asphalt and vinyl floor tiles contain asbestos]? I had old 12"x12" floor tiles in my basement installed between 1939 an the mid 50's. I believe they were asphalt do to the fact they were dark brown or red in color. They were removed in 1997. The whole basement had them except for one small room. They were removed by a contractor who claimed they were not asbestos. He had his workers remove them by spraying the tiles with water and then they began scraping and braking them up with hand tools made to take up floor tiles. I'm freaked out he may have exposed me and my family to asbestos. My furnace was off and they put down a new concrete subfloor a few days later and painted the walls. The mastic on the old subfloor was exposed for two to three days. I was in the basement during and after removal. Only for a couple of short periods of time. And we had our ducts cleaned a short time after.