installing new flooring over existing tile floor
wallyderf
| Posted in Construction Techniques on
Looking for input on the potential of installing LVT or ? over an existing tile floor in a tropical home.
Replies
Should not be aproblem as long as your existing flooring is in good shape. Is the vinyl tile snap togehter or glue down?
If the existing tile has an irregular surface it may be best to skim over it with leveling compound.
Must be perfectly flat.
Vinyl will eventually take the shape of whatever it's laid on. If the tile isn't peftectly flat and/or the grout is lower than the tile, that will eventually show in the vinyl flooring. The grout lines would eventually show in the vinyl as little valleys above the grout lines. If there are seems in the LVT near a dip in the floor (grout) one LVT plank edge might dip into the grout line while the other LVT seem stays proud, producing a trip hazzard.
You could place a dime under a vinyl tile and within a year you would see a perfectly dime-sized bump in the vinyl right above the dime.
In other words, you want it consistently flat. If you have room for the extra height, use underlayment sheeting. I can't speak with any experience to the leveling compound idea.