Hi,
I need some good advice…. I’ve installed lots of tile as a DIYer…always on concrete floors or with cementitious backer board for bathrooms, etc.
My sister called this evening..said she’d bought some 12X12 tile and that they were having to decide whether to install it over the linoleum in the kitchen or rip it up.
When I balked, she said that several people…at the tile store said that there is some reliable adhesive/mastic/thinset that works fine on top of linoleum.
Is this legit?
Thanks in advance!
Larry
Replies
We've covered this before a few times with mixed responses. I will repeat what I have said before. I recently looked at a homeowner's insurance claim for a tile install over sheet vinyl. The installer put 1/4" Hardiebacker over the sheet vinyl and then 8"x8" tile over that. There were cracks in the grout joints and through the tiles in at least 4 places within 1 to 2 months. The adjacent room that was installed over the subfloor without the sheet vinyl looked great. The claim was denied. The Tile Council of America says don't do it. Listen to them.
carpenter in transition
we had a house with asbestos tiles in a kitchen. Tile store manager told us not to pull it up, and to just tile over it. I made the mistake of buying premixed adhesive from Menards, and it never setup, but we bought the good stuff(stuff you have to mix) from the tile shop, and we had no problems. Cant remember name of said "stuff" but it worked great for us, and we were there for 2 years after the fact...
I agree with you. I did two installations last winter, one for myself and one for a customer. I did not pull up my vinyl, used thinset with modifiers to help w/ flexability to set 1/4" cement board, and then screwed the board down every four inches with the recommended screws. I embedded mesh tape in thinset over the joints, staggard the joints, etc. With in four months cracks started showing up. They follow the joints in the cement board. Expansion and contraction between the two materials caused the cracks. Thankfully I pulled the vinyl up in the customers job. No cracks to be found. Sometimes its better to be lucky instead of good.
I will always pull up the vinyl from now on!
Yes you can install ceramic, porcelin, marble, or stone tile over vinyl or linoleum, and it is an approved installation, but you have to follow a few rules. First the linoleum must be very well adhered to the existing subfloor, if it is loose pull it up. Secondly, you must use the proper thinset-multipurpose with acrylic and latex modifiers (I use a product called Flex Set or Ultra Flex Set from Lowes $20 a bag). Third, if it is a wood floor you must install the backer board the same as you would if the linoleum was not on the subfloor: 1/4" Hardibacker applied with the multipurpose thinset then nail with 1 1/2" galvanized roofing nails every four inches, stagger seams, and tape and bed seams with fiberglass tape and multi purpose thinset. I have done a couple hundred floors following this method in the last 2-3 years with zero problems. And, the installation is warranteed by Hardiplank if you are careful to install in accordance with their instructions. I have replaced the work of other installers whose installation failed usually because of one of two reasons: they did not use the proper thinset (stay away from the premixed products for floor applications) and, or they did not install the hardibacker properly.
another thing is that if the lineoleum has a very slick surface, it should be abraded prior to applying the thinset (do NOT do this unless you are absolutely sure they floor doesn't have asbestos in it!!!!). This step will help the thinset bond to the linoleum.
yes you can, others here will offer more detailed advice, but recently i had to remove a few tile from linolium due to a change in kitchen cabinet layout, the linoliun came up before the old ceramic tile