We had a similar sutuation and it was as J from Lakes Country has indicated. Have the flooring under the tile tested before trying to remove. Somtimes the asbestos is in the glue sticking the tile down rather than the tile itself, but I think can be both.

It was easier and therefore cheaper. There could be asbestos containing layers below, but don't let that scare you. Floor tile and mastic that contain asbestos are generally not "friable" and can be removed safely if care is taken.

We had ours professionally removed. It did cost more, but wasn’t as crazy as I thought it might be. If the mastic happens to be on top of whatever the bottom layer is, they can put a sealer over top before you lay new floor if you don't or can't remove that layer. In our case it was stuck on top of original hardwood. No saving it so took it all out and started new. There is still a bit of a height difference on the transition to other rooms in our case because our house is old and there was not the kind of subfloor that is used now. We had to put one down before laying new hardwood. If we had done a different flooring material, like vinyl plank, we might have minimized the tansition more.

How lucky there might be wood underneath all the flooring. Very exciting. Yeah you probably have to hire a company to remove potential asbestos but it will be worth it to see those glorious floors underneath it all.

likely asbestos

FWIW - the mastic that was on our floors had degraded to dust and was highly friable. If it had not been for that we would have likely removed the layers of floor ourselves with proper PPE. At a minimum, if there is asbestos and you remove please ensure you have proper ventilation and personal protective gear.

Whether or not there is asbetos underneath that tile, installers and owners like to just slap down new tile on top of old tile because it is cheaper and easier. Some times it is just that simple.

Our old house has that too—very common. Cheaper/easier to just lay the new floor on top of the old. (Siding, too!) We took it down to the subfloor in our kitchen, and did test for asbestos to be safe (luckily there was none). Getting ready to remove the same flooring in our bathroom and let that be level with the wood again too. It did take some prep to get all the mastic off, but we did it ourselves and managed it. (This time around, paying someone for that task, though!)