Flooring – Should I replace carpet over ancient linoleum that might contain asbestos

One of my smaller hallways is carpeted, for no highly obvious reason. That carpet is on its last legs, and I'd prefer a wood floor anyway.

Taking a peek under the carpet, it looks like the surface is flooring squares… which, given the age of the house, are almost certainly asbestos linoleum.

I didn't see any obvious fraying of the linoleum. But I still hesitate to tamper with it, even just to take up the carpet and put down hardwood over it.

Is there a good way to approach this? Or should I just treat it as a hazmat and call my favorite contractor?

(The most important skill in DIY is how to recognize when you're in over your head. Preferably before you need rescuing.)

EDIT: Took another look, and it's the same linoleum as the bathroom floor next to it. So either there's no problem, or I have a larger problem.

EDIT 2: Contractor looked at it.

"In that pattern, I'm guessing 1970's. Asbestos is not likely, but not impossible either in the tile or in the adhesive. Typical installation was adhesive, tar paper (as a water seal), more adhesive and the tile.

"The best way to remove these tiles is to use a heat gun to soften the adhesive and lift them up gently with a flat scraper. Homeowners are allowed to DIY even if you suspect asbestos, and if you're careful it shouldn't be a problem… but that still leaves you with the question of whether the adhesive residue will be a hazard.

"I'd suggest taking up one tile and some of the adhesive, putting each in a ziplock bag, and asking the local lab to test both. That'll cost you about $50 total, and you'll know how careful you have to be with the rest. After all, you might be lucky enough that there's a decent hardwood floor under there."

(I doubt the hardwood floor, but one can always hope.)

So: I have a Plan Of Action, and it's probably less of a problem than I feared. That's about what I expected, but… "Better to ask, and be thought a fool, than to not ask and remove all doubt."

Thanks for the sanity check, folks.