1957 Spartan Imperial Mansion

[Crossiger]

Hello,

My aunt has owns and lives in a 1957 Spartan Imperial Masion and it has a few soft spots in the floor in the bedroom and bathroom. I want to replace the entire floor since it is so old. I removed the belly pan from under the bedroom and found what looks like the original insulation. I am not sure if it contains asbestos or if maybe it is fiberglass. I have searched all over Google and couldn't find anything to confirm what type.of insulation it is. I will attach pictures and hopefully someone has some idea.

[OTRA15]

Welcome to the forum!

That sure looks like fiberglas insulation to these eyes. Many users here are more familiar with old Airstreams and similar vintage kin so they may have better insights.

Glass wool was patented in 1933:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass_wool

Mineral wool is similar and dates back to the 1800's:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mineral_wool

The pink tones in your photos look more like Fiberglass insulation IMO, and don't seem similar to asbestos products seen in construction IMO:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asbestos
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiberglass
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass_fiber

As I said above, other users with better historical RV knowledge will hopefully chime in.

Good luck,

Peter

[xrvr]

Try the TinCan Tourist site.

[Crossiger]

Thank you. I was thinking its fiberglass as well. I may cut some off and have it tested.

[Crossiger]

Originally Posted by xrvr

Try the TinCan Tourist site.

Thank you. It looks like a great site but if I'm going to pay annually for it I could also have the insulation tested

[Spartanguy]

Lives in an Imperial Mansion, so jelly [emoji7]

[Eric 26 Argo]

Asbestos fibers are usually mixed in with other materials and sprayed on. It looks like blown insulation with a binder to hold it together. I was often use in tile and some vinyl flooring's as well as many other product where it usually was incorporated in a binding material to form hard surfaces.

Were as fiberglass insulation is basically sand heated to melting and then spun like cotton candy in to batting. The heat resisting properties of asbestos would probably make spinning it into batting near impossible.

[mikextr]

You're smart to have it tested and treat it like asbestos until you know better. My money is on fiberglass based on the pics. BUT, they used asbestos everywhere they could back then. I wouldn't be surprised if it was in the paper backing of the fiberglass insulation.

[Camper Crazy]

I had asbestos testing done; even without a rush had a reply in 2 days. $50 well spent for peace of mind.
CC

[Camper Crazy]

Also would love to see pictures of this old girl. )

[r carl]

Originally Posted by Camper Crazy

Also would love to see pictures of this old girl. )

His Aunt?

[Boog]

Your floor tiles are probably asbestos but the insulation is probably kaowool (mineral wool).

Here's a link with information about Spartans: http://www.spartantrailer.com/

[OTRA15]

Thanks for that link. I wondered about mineral wool per links in earlier post.

Peter

[Camper Crazy]

Originally Posted by r carl

His Aunt?

Lol, that didn't come out right. The spartan of course!

[Crossiger]

Sorry for the delayed update. I have had the insulation, the tile, and the tile adhesive tested and all have came back as negative for asbestos. Once I complete the flooring job I will post some pictures of the Spartan. Thank you all for your help and contributions.