How To Encapsulate Black Mastic

If you are one of the millions who have discovered the existence of asbestos in your home or business, you likely know how unsettling black mastic can be. The majority of black mastic found in older homes and businesses contains asbestos, a substance that has been linked to many serious health problems.

The best way to encapsulate black mastic is with penetrating or bridging encapsulant. Clean the surface of the black mastic with a neutral cleaner like Waxie-Green Solsta 243 before you apply an encapsulant. Avoid sanding the surface, wear eye and mouth protection, and use a professional sprayer from a home improvement store to safely encapsulate black mastic.

This guide is here to take you through your encapsulation project so that you can choose the right products, and prepare black mastic for installation the proper way. Let’s get to it!

Materials needed to apply the encapsulating product are fairly straightforward. You will need gloves, a respirator, eye protection, professional spraying equipment, and any other safety gear that your particular situation calls for.

One of our favorite professional sprayers is the Titan ControlMax 1700 Pro which you can find at several home improvement stores. Another fantastic solution is the Graco TC Pro Cordless sprayer as it allows much more freedom of movement while you work. The only downsides are that the batteries must be managed and the reservoir must be topped up frequently.

Once you have prepared the black mastic floor and you are properly suited up, it is time to start the encapsulating process.

If you are using a liquid sealant, always read the labels and provided information carefully before spraying. Each product is different in how it should be mixed as well as how concentrated it is. Further, many black mastic encapsulation solutions provide different opportunities depending on how far you dilute.

For example, if you are spraying a product like ABC over a porous surface, a mixture of water and the sealant at a one-to-one ratio will work perfectly. The level of dilution will allow the sealant to penetrate deep inside of the material thus locking in the dangerous fibers.

Alternatively, you can also use many sealants at full strength to create a type of shell over the surface. Using highly concentrated encapsulants allows you to completely coat a variety of surfaces and materials with ease.

After deciding on the correct ratio of sealant to water for your black mastic floor, spraying it on is a simple task. Holding the sprayer approximately a foot and a half from the surface, spray the sealant in wide, sweeping motions until an even coating is achieved.

Most sealants will dry in less than 2 hours. However, you will always want to check the product to see what the drying time is just in case. You don’t want to assume it’s a quicker drying time otherwise it can cause you to mess up a portion of your project. You don’t want to do this as this is a very costly mistake and usually involves buying more materials to fix.

The answer to this question is complicated. Sometimes black mastic has asbestos and other times it doesn’t. It’s important when you work with it that you assume it does just in case so that you don’t expose yourself to asbestos if you break it or somehow cause the asbestos to become airborne.

Even though some do have asbestos, it’s not necessarily dangerous as long as you don’t do anything that will make it come into the air. If you want to remove black mastic and you suspect that it has asbestos, you’ll want to make sure you hire a professional instead of doing this yourself, as it’s very toxic and very dangerous.

Whether you should leave black mastic alone or simply forget about largely depends on the condition of the black mastic. As it most often contains asbestos, the black mastic should be observed carefully.

If there is damage to the black mastic tiles, or if some parts of the mastic have been removed or otherwise disturbed, it is wise to seal it. On the other hand, if the black mastic is still in good condition, it is common practice to cover it with either a floating floor or carpeting.

The cost of black mastic encapsulation is far less than removal. Apart from labor fees and some other charges a professional service may charge you, the binding compounds used to encapsulate black mastic generally run from $200-$300 dollars per 5 gal bucket.

While there are different types of sealant available, one commonly used product comes from a company called Norkan. If you use their Fiberlock ABC encapsulant, expect to pay around $200 per bucket. Each bucket will seal approximately 75 sq. ft.