Asbestos in floor coverings and adhesives - What to do?

With asbestos: best not to touch it and leave it where it is, I would support the second advice from the architect. Without mechanical impact, it is not harmful.

With adhesive, it’s different, you just don’t know if something is emitted or not, so it would have to be sealed airtight when built over, which is certainly impossible with the stairs. On the other hand, for example, stones are still glued today with adhesives where no one knows what will be emitted in 20 years. That’s why the "state of the art" keeps changing because it is repeatedly realized that what was completely normal so far is ultimately not so great.

Yes, but if there is asbestos in the adhesive, then it has to be removed for that reason alone, because we actually cannot build over it. At least that seems to me as a layman - there is also carpet on the FloorFlex panels - and that all makes for quite an uneven situation.

And with the stairs the problem is also exactly recognized - you have to sand them anyway.

You can probably do it yourself if you want to. However, it should not be underestimated to walk around for several hours in full protective gear and then do physical work on top of that. Full-body suit, head and mouth protection, gloves... I know this work equipment from personal experience: after 10 minutes something starts to itch somewhere, after half an hour you are soaked with sweat. On top of that, you can’t just take it off or scratch yourself... In such a suit, renovation workers were once working on the roof of a house. I also always do a lot myself, but that would probably be risky for me. Get a second quote best Then you can compare.

What should not be underestimated either: the asbestos-containing dust from removal blows into all the cracks throughout the house, so during sanding there should definitely be continuous vacuuming and moistening and who knows what. In the end, the equipment will be more expensive than hiring a company right away.

First, wait for the lab samples and then obtain further quotes.

I am certainly a big fan of doing the demolition yourself, but asbestos is no joke. I would have it done professionally. Of course, you can protect yourself, but there is still a residual risk. I think the €9,000 is money well spent.

We have been through the same thing:
I also unknowingly removed the FlorFlex panels with a push shovel.
Then we painstakingly removed the screed as well (we still had nice glass wool - keyword KMF under the screed). All in all, I would say 4 days with 2 people for 130 sqm. (Asbestos disposal: €50 for 400kg, €45 for 9 small bags of KMF, €500 for the container, about €100 for P3 dust masks and asbestos protective suits, a diamond blade for the grinder (we used it to cut the screed into slabs so that we could brush off the KMF stuff better). I can gladly send some pictures about this.
We had a ventilator running to create slight negative pressure (rental €100).

In the end, I borrowed an asbestos vacuum and vacuumed everything (walls, ceilings, floors) (100€ for a weekend including filter).

And finally, had an asbestos sample analyzed by TÜV (about €90 per sample): result no single (lung-penetrating) fiber found.

Despite the concerns of the people around me, I would do it exactly the same way again.
I know many who unknowingly ripped the stuff out. They are still alive. And in my opinion, there is no case of cancer where someone got cancer from asbestos after only one-time private work. All documented cases are occupational asbestos cases.

So, my contribution will certainly not meet applause everywhere, but it represents my personal opinion. Everyone has to do it the way they think is right.

Best regards
Mattes

PS: Tell me how you ultimately handled it