Installing Porcelain Tile Over Vinyl Floor

Installing ceramic tile over vinyl or linoleum surfaces can be more complicated than expected and probably should be avoided whenever possible.

Installing porcelain tile over vinyl floor.

A unique and time saving way to apply ceramic tile directly on top of vinyl flooring using the tavy thin skin system home owners are now able to lay ceramic tile over surfaces that would have never before been possible. Your greatest concerns when installing a vinyl floor over the existing tile are the tile s joints and the floor s height. Before you start see if any tile is broken or damaged. However if you can t remove the old surface or otherwise decide to install over it lay a backer board with thin set over the old surface to serve as your new subfloor material.

This isn t possible with every flooring material but it s often possible to install ceramic porcelain or stone tile over resilient flooring including standard sheet vinyl vinyl tile or linoleum. Apply thin set adhesive to the vinyl flooring with a notched trowel. The best candidate is fully adhered glued down sheet vinyl flooring. Consider this sample procedure for leveling a ceramic tile floor prior to installing glue down or floating vinyl.

Chip out any loose grout and then vacuum the floor. Laying tile over vinyl flooring on a plywood subfloor. Once you ve removed lose or broken pieces patch the empty sections with a liquid cement or mortar letting it settle level with the tile floor. Screw or nail 1 2 cement backer board on top of the vinyl while the adhesive is still wet.

Not every form of resilient flooring is suitable for receiving tile directly. When bonding vinyl tiles in place or when bonding new tile to old vinyl tile there are some considerations you must make before determining whether you can use thinset in the application.