You have lot of options when it comes to covering asbestos tiles and it only is a health risk when the floors asbestos particles come airborne.
Covering asbestos floor tiles with ceramic tile.
That way no one will be endangered years from now when they start to rip up the new flooring and find asbestos tiles beneath.
Lay groutable vinyl peel stick tile flooring over the tile.
Dispose of asbestos floor tiles in approved asbestos disposal bags and seal each one as directed.
Floor leveler is not the best choice for your situation becuase its likely that the asbestos tile are bonded to the older black adhesive.
That said it can be difficult to get a level surface for the new floor especially if the old tiles have chipped away.
Use a steel floor scraper to pry up the asbestos tiles one at a time.
Taking out ceramic tile is dirty process that sends broken chips and concrete dust flying throughout the house.
You could also cover the tiles with new vinyl flooring linoleum or even ceramic tiles.
Take care to choose a tile whose thickness is not going to create a problem and choose a tile that is rated for floor use.
Paint the tile with a stencil.
Therefore you can choose from using an adhesive with a new plywood subfloor to even porch floor paint as you stated.
Remove baseboards as part of your prep too so that you can fully clean your tile.
It really is up to you as long as the existing tiles are not disturbed in any way.
It s not the asbestos that s the issue but instead the slick surface that will cause your tile job to fail.
Install ceramic tile over asbestos.
Installing ceramic or porcelain tile over asbestos tile.
This is trickier as you can t simply slap mortar down on top of old asbestos tile put down the new tile and expect a good result.
Use a portland cement based adhesive to adhere the new tiles to the old.
Don t be afraid to wet mop and scrub at the tiles because a clean tile will render better adhesion and a more successful seal.
Ceramic tile is a tough flooring surface that is as hard to remove as it is to damage after it is in place.
If you are hiring a flooring company they may be hesitant to work around asbestos tiles and require you to get an abatement first.
However as a favor to future owners of your house make some note of the fact that asbestos tiles are under the new flooring.
In many cases installing a new floor over the tiles encapsulates the asbestos fibers and is an acceptable way to manage the material.
It is set into a bed of thin set that hardens like concrete and the tile itself shatters like glass during removal.
Clean up any remaining bits.