I would take out the rest of the tile. Asbestos is dangerous as a dust, so if you use a spray bottle with water to keep it damp, not wet, you should be alright to take out the rest, if you really do have asbestos.

Can you identify who told you?

If they are 9" square tiles laid in the 60s, then they most likely have asbestos. You have done the right thing to leave the rest and seal them off with the paint.

If the differences in height of the bumps and dips in the floor are small, like 1/8" or less, then you probably don't need to worry much about putting thick hardwood over it. If you were laying new vinyl over that, then you would definitely have to pour leveler or cover it with plywood. But new wood flooring should cover the roughness just fine without you being able to detect it after.

If the bumps are bigger, then leveler might be a good idea. It's not hard to do. Mix a 25 lb bag at a time in a 5 gallon bucket with a mortar mix blade in a high power drill (weak drills burn out). Pour. Mix another.

Be sure to get the kind that is soupy when mixed. There's another kind that you have to trowel on and that's a pain in the neck to use. The soupy kind is fun and results in a perfectly smooth surface.

Your in it deep now, why not go ahead and do it right.

Lay a damp towel over the demo areas, and do small sections at a time.

We installers took that stuff up for decades, and no one has offered to pay me because of the now known health risk.

Thanks for all the advice! After talking to some flooring experts at a few home improvement stores, I've learned that wood floors are VERY forgiving! there can be up to 1/2" difference in floor height with no need to use leveler. As ours is about 1/16" difference, I suspect we'll have no problems.

Floorguy, even though no one has offered to pay you for working with asbestos years ago, there's no reason others should take an unnecessary risk with a toxic substance.

Here in my state, we are allowed to remove it without question. California, they will put you in the guiloteen.

Whoever told you it was OK to go over ½" was telling you what you wanted to hear, most likely to make a sale!!!

All wood has strict specifications for substrate flatness, and that is 1/8 of an inch,, in 6 feet, with some manufacturers with 1/8 of an inch in 8 feet. Failure to abide by those strict specs, and it is not installed to industry standards, and a performance failure is in the future

Maybe she meant a 1/2" deep pock mark, not a 1/2" difference over several feet.

You can put hardwood flooring over a 1/2" deep pock mark with no problem. You can't put vinyl over such a flaw because it would show through very noticeably.

That would be my first guess at what she was told.

The professional I consulted was fully aware that my floor had already been purchased. Further, Spanky, you are correct that I was speaking about a 1/2" blemish. Regardless, the specs for the flooring I purchased state that there can be a 1/8" variance in the level of the floor. As I stated previously, my variance is about 1/16", so it seems that I'm good to go!

Thanks again for everyone's help--I truly appreciate it!