What’s under the carpet in an older Thousand Oaks home?

By the City’s Housing Element, about 77 percent of Thousand Oaks homes date from before 1990. Before old carpet comes up, know what can be under it and what federal and county agencies say about it.

Published October 12, 2026. Updated October 13, 2026. 19 sources, listed at the end.

The short answer

If old carpet hides vinyl tile, sheet vinyl or adhesive, take care: the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) lists vinyl floor tiles, the backing on sheet vinyl and adhesives among places asbestos can be found, a hazard mainly when disturbed. The Ventura County air district says asbestos is likely in buildings constructed before 1979; leave intact material alone or have an asbestos consultant sample it. Wood underneath is cleaned without wet or steam mops; sanding it is flooring work.

How old Thousand Oaks homes are

Thousand Oaks calls itself an older community. The City’s 2021–2029 Housing Element says most of its homes were built between 1960 and 1989, the largest share in the 1970s, and that about 77 percent of the housing stock was built before 1990, using American Community Survey estimates for 2015 to 2019.

Bar chart of the share of Thousand Oaks’s occupied homes by decade built: 0.4% in 1939 or earlier, 0.7% in the 1940s, 3.5% in the 1950s, 19.9% in the 1960s, 33.5% in the 1970s, 19.5% in the 1980s, 11.2% in the 1990s, 10.0% in the 2000s and 1.3% in 2010 or later. — The City of Thousand Oaks Housing Element, Table 16, from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, 2015–2019: more than half of the city’s homes were built in the 1960s and 1970s.

Its Table 16 covers 45,712 occupied homes: 33.5 percent built in the 1970s, 19.9 percent in the 1960s and 19.5 percent in the 1980s. The City names the neighborhoods with the most older homes as Royal Oaks, Old Town West, Greenwich Village, Waverly Heights, Newbury Park and central Thousand Oaks.

Housing age in three local housing plans
Place	What its housing plan says	Plan
City of Thousand Oaks	About 77 percent built before 1990; 33.5 percent in the 1970s	2021–2029 Housing Element, revised 2023
City of Westlake Village	About 63 percent built in the 1960s and 1970s, about 20 percent in the 1980s	2021–2029 Housing Element, adopted December 2021
Agoura Hills	89 percent built before 1989	2021–2029 Housing Element, February 2022 draft

Next door, homes in Oak Park went up from the late 1960s, and the housing plans for Agoura Hills and the City of Westlake Village put most of their homes before 1990 as well.

What old carpet can cover

Housing data can’t say what a particular house has underfoot. What federal and county agencies do say is which old flooring materials call for care:

The EPA’s list of places asbestos can be found includes vinyl floor tiles, the backing on vinyl sheet flooring, and adhesives.
The Ventura County Air Pollution Control District names vinyl floor tiles and sheet flooring among the places asbestos was commonly used, along with patching compounds and textured paints.
The district’s Rule 62.7 treats asbestos-containing floor tile, including asphalt and vinyl tile, and sheet vinyl containing more than 1 percent asbestos as “resilient floor covering.”

Cut-away of a carpeted floor, from the top: the carpet’s pile and backing, the carpet cushion or pad, then in some homes an older floor, either vinyl tile on adhesive or wood, and the subfloor. Beside it, two notes. If it’s old vinyl tile, sheet vinyl or adhesive: the EPA lists vinyl floor tiles, the backing on sheet vinyl, and adhesives among places asbestos can be found, a risk mainly when disturbed or damaged; Ventura County’s air district says asbestos is likely in buildings constructed before 1979; in good condition it’s usually better left alone; don’t sand, scrape or drill it; and an asbestos consultant with a California state license can take samples. If it’s a wood floor: no wet or steam mops, which the National Wood Flooring Association says damage the finish and the wood over time; clean it with a product made for its finish. Sanding and refinishing aren’t cleaning, and this site doesn’t refer them. — From the top: the carpet, its cushion, sometimes an older floor, then the subfloor. Old vinyl and adhesive call for care before anything is pulled up or scraped; wood calls for the right cleaner.

A wood floor is another possibility, with care of its own, covered further down. For the carpet itself, see carpet cleaning and what carpet cleaning costs in Thousand Oaks.

Could old vinyl tile or adhesive contain asbestos?

Old vinyl tile and its adhesive can contain asbestos, and the age of the house is the first clue. The Ventura County Air Pollution Control District says asbestos is likely to be found in buildings constructed before 1979 and almost certain to be present in those built before 1950. By the City’s Table 16, 58 percent of the city’s occupied homes were built in 1979 or earlier, and about 1 percent before 1950.

Age is only a clue. The EPA says exposure generally happens only when asbestos-containing material is disturbed or damaged so that it releases particles and fibers into the air, and the district says that in most cases the material is dangerous only when disturbed. To find out what a suspect material is, the district says you can hire an asbestos consultant holding a California state license to survey it and take samples to a laboratory for analysis.

If the material is identified as containing asbestos and is in good condition, the district recommends leaving it alone.

The EPA’s do’s and don’ts for old flooring

Much of the EPA’s advice to homeowners is a list of don’ts, and several of them are ordinary floor-care steps. That is why a cleaning company needs to know what a floor is before any machine touches it.

Don’t sand or try to level asbestos flooring or its backing.
Never use a power stripper on flooring that may contain asbestos, and don’t strip wax from asbestos flooring with abrasive pads or brushes on a power stripper.
Don’t dust, sweep or vacuum debris that may contain asbestos.
Don’t saw, sand, scrape or drill holes in asbestos-containing materials.
When asbestos flooring needs replacing, install the new floor covering over it if possible.
Asbestos-containing material in good condition is usually better left alone, the EPA says.

Ventura County’s Rule 62.7: notice before removal

In Ventura County, taking out asbestos flooring falls under the air district’s Rule 62.7, which covers asbestos in demolition and renovation. The district’s own summary sets these terms:

Removing 100 square feet or more of asbestos-containing material requires a written notification to the district.
Normally the notice must be postmarked or delivered at least 10 working days before the work starts, with the fee set in Rule 45.2.
At a residential building of four or fewer units, the 10-day wait and the fee don’t apply, but the district must receive the notice before the work begins.
Owner-occupants of a single-unit home doing the work themselves aren’t regulated by the rule, though the district strongly recommends they follow its emission control requirements.

The rule’s own text adds an exception to the notice requirement for Category I nonfriable material removed under its subsection E.2.a, so ask the district how it applies to a particular floor. That posted text shows the rule’s 1992 adoption; check the district’s rulebook for the current version. It is a Ventura County rule; Agoura Hills and the City of Westlake Village are in Los Angeles County, so check which rules apply there before any work.

If there is wood under the carpet

Skip the wet mop and the steam mop: the National Wood Flooring Association (NWFA) warns that both will damage the finish and the wood over long periods. It recommends a cleaner made specifically for the floor’s finish, which a flooring professional can supply or suggest. Shaw Floors’ hardwood care advice adds a neutral-pH flooring cleaner, and no oil-based wax or polish, ammonia, harsh chemicals or abrasive cleaners.

For the room, the NWFA recommends 60 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit and 30 to 50 percent humidity year-round, and Shaw a consistent 35 to 55 percent to prevent warping.

Homewyse’s starting estimate for cleaning wood floors is $0.49–$0.61 per square foot, a January 2026 figure built on a two-hour minimum labor charge. Maid VIP, our affiliated partner, estimates $0.40–$0.80 per square foot for a maintenance clean, $0.80–$1.30 for a deep clean; see hardwood floor cleaning. Engineered wood, laminate and vinyl plank come with their makers’ own rules: cleaning them without voiding the warranty.

Sanding and refinishing are flooring work

Sanding is where an old floor stops being a cleaning job, and on old vinyl that may contain asbestos it is exactly what the EPA says not to do. In California, the Contractors State License Board’s C-15 flooring and floor covering classification covers preparing a surface for flooring and installing carpet, resilient sheet goods, resilient tile and wood floors, finishing and repair included.

Assembly Bill 2622 raised the state’s minor work exemption from $500 to $1,000 on January 1, 2025. Below that line, counting labor, materials and everything else, a person can do the work without a license from the board, but only if no building permit is needed and nobody is hired for the job, and an ad for the work must say the person holds no license. Jobs at or above that line, or ones that need a permit or hired help, fall outside the exemption.

Angi’s national figures run $3–$8 per square foot to refinish a hardwood floor and $1–$2.50 per square foot to buff one. This site doesn’t refer sanding, recoating or refinishing; disclosures and licensing sets out what it does and doesn’t refer, and what to ask before hiring covers the cleaning side.

Sources

Each was opened and checked in October 2026. General information about California law and local rules, not legal advice. Prices are national figures or Maid VIP’s labeled estimates, not quotes.

Questions

Short answers drawn from the sources above.

How can I tell whether old floor tile contains asbestos?

Not by age alone. The Ventura County air district says asbestos is likely in buildings constructed before 1979, and that an asbestos consultant holding a California state license can survey a suspect material and take samples to a laboratory for analysis.

Is it safe to leave asbestos tile under new flooring?

If asbestos-containing material is in good condition, the EPA’s usual advice is to leave it alone. When asbestos flooring needs replacing, the EPA says to install the new floor covering over it if possible.

Do I have to notify anyone before removing old vinyl flooring?

In Ventura County, Rule 62.7 calls for written notice to the air district when 100 square feet or more of asbestos-containing material will be removed, with exceptions set out in the rule. Owner-occupants working on their own single-unit home aren’t regulated by the rule, though the district strongly recommends following its emission controls.

How many Thousand Oaks homes were built before 1980?

By the City’s Housing Element (Table 16, American Community Survey 2015–2019), 58 percent of occupied homes date from 1979 or earlier, and about 77 percent from before 1990. The 1970s alone account for 33.5 percent.

Can hardwood found under old carpet just be cleaned?

A cleaning works on the finish: the National Wood Flooring Association calls for a cleaner made for that finish and no wet or steam mops. Sanding or refinishing falls in the Contractors State License Board’s C-15 flooring classification, and the state’s minor work exemption covers only jobs under $1,000 that need no permit or hired help.

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