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The sub floor is the plywood, 1x6 or whatever that is attached to your joists when the house was built. You're probably talking about a thinner plywood or particle board underlayment nailed or stapled to the subfloor.
Do I have this right? the tile in question was glued directly to the subfloor? If so, I would just cover it with the new flooring and not disturb it. It's my opinion that you're certain to end up doing me floor covering of some kind anyway. Too much stuff going on to think you are going to salvage the old floor. The tile you're talking about is thin vinyl right? ⅛" thick or a sixteenth. If your tile was installed prior to 1972 then it is VAT (Vinyl Asbestos Tile) if the tile was made after 1972 it's VCT ( Vinyl Composition Tile). It doesn't matter. Chip it up and leave the adhesive or leave it all if it doesn't cause an elevation problem. Whatever you do, do not alert authorities to a possible asbestos contamination. The odds are it will be recorded and must be disclosed upon sale of your house. If it's VAT so what? Asbestos is harmless unless it's sanded and airborne. It's not poisonous it's a narural irritant. Tiny crystal shards can get stuck in your lungs. Totally harmless as long as you don't get it airborne. Chip it up if you must with a Scraper. I use the telescopic stand up 8" razor scrapers. On a wood subfloor the razor blade will dig in so I turn the blade around backwards. That's the tool you should have used to remove the thick rubber tile. I have a jumbo pack of new blades on hand and slice it off. You don't try to take an 8" swath, rather a sweeping motion cutting an inch or so at a time and when you have a few inches of rubber flap interfering with slicing cut it off with a skill saw set at the thickness of the rubber. 2 guys working a 200 square foot room can have it up by lunch this way.
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