Ceramic tile over existing vinyl flooring
 

We would like to tile our kitchen, laundry room and bathrooms which are currently covered with a vinyl flooring. At Floormasters today we were told they would not remove the existing flooring but tile over it. I'm guessing they have done this in many Villages homes and they appear to have a very good reputation but it just doesn't seem like a good idea to me to lay tile over vinyl - I'd have doubts about the adhesion of the existing material to the concrete substrate or the adhesion between the ceramic tile and the vinyl surface.

If those with any experience in this area could pass on the benefit of their knowledge I'd appreciate it.

If the vinyl ever lifted from the floor, it would cause problems for your new tile floor. We recently had our floors tiled, and the installer told us the same thing -- they install on top of the vinyl. We insisted that the vinyl be removed. And, we are glad we did, because when they moved the stove, refrig, from the kitchen, the vinyl was not securely adhered to the floor.

You may have to pay a bit more to have that vinyl removed, but in my opinion, it is worth it. Or, you may consider removing it yourself. It is not a difficult job if you use a square shovel as a wedge between the concrete floor and vinyl. Ours came right up!

Best reason I can think of not to hire Floormasters! Tile over vinyl and you are just asking for trouble.

We live in Mass. & all our floors were originally vinyl. We have had them all done in tile right over the vinyl for years and they are perfect. The contractor puts either cement board, wire screed, or this other plastic material over the vinyl first, and the installation of that is most important. Of course, here we have plywood floors over wood joists so its easy to screw the underlying material over the vinyl. I'm not sure how that works when the floor under the vinyl is concrete as in TV. If you use a reputable tile contractor I would trust their judgement.
Rick

I know it sounds counter-intuitive, but you do not want the ceramic tile to bond to the concrete slab. When the inevitable movement happens in the slab, the tile should be free to not move. If you had a plain concrete slab, I would install a bond-breaking membrane before I installed the tile. The thin-set mortar used in tile installation is a bedding material, allowing you to level the tile over irregular surfaces.

I agree, mulligan.

There are two kinds of concrete, one is cracked and the other is going to crack.

tile over vinyl
 

I agree Mr Mulligan. Have done dozens over concrete. If vinyl is not installed under tile on concrete...you have to put something between the tile and the concrete.

We DIY's put tile over vinyl 10 yrs ago and have no problems. Were advised to scuff up the vinyl first as it was brand new. Did another area since then and again no adverse effects to this point.

Agree totally with above. We had our tile put down by Home Depot and they put cement board down. They also told us you don't want straight to slab due to shifts.

Army Guy

How about putting tile over tile? We have existing ceramic tile in a house a few years old, that is cheap tile and difficult to maintain. I'd like a better grade tile but don't want to go to the expense of ripping up the old tile. Can we tile right over it?

If you want to install ceramic over vinyl and the vinyl is down solid you can remove the top layer of the vinyl and leave the gray sheet down ( back layer ) and it will work very well. There is 2 layers to on a vinyl floor.

It is possible to put tile over tile if the bottom layer is intact. There is a leveling compound which you squeege on to make sure to cover and cracks or depressions. When that is dried just tile as usual. You should have no problems. When tiling, be sure to keep the Thinset (gluey stuff) thin enough to allow it to spread out smoothly. You don't want lumps. This allows every part of each tile to have goop behind it. WHEN WORKING WITH SMALL TILES YOU CAN "BUTTER" THE THINSET ON WITH A knife or scraper. Good luck with your tiling project. Post a picture when you are finished. :laugh:

c
 

If you put tile over tile make sure the tile you are going over is securely glued to the floor, if it isn't you will have a major problem. You can tap on the tiles and you can hear if they ain't glued down securely.

can use a membrane
 

There is a membrane product that came out in the US about 5-7 years ago. The membrane can be put over most floors before the tile. I do not remember the name of it, but Home Depot carries it in the tile dept. It is Orange in in color, comes in rolls and looks like the old "waffle padding" they use under wall-wall carpet in the 60's. The company in DE that put our floor in said that is all they use on wood or concrete. Our floor has been down about 3 years. Looks good so far!

Thanks for the tips. Not sure if we will do the project. First I'm going to look into sealing the tiles (as opposed to sealing the grout). Maybe that will help.