Can You Lay Ceramic Tile Over Linoleum Flooring

A tip on purchasing grout if you re new to tiling.

Can you lay ceramic tile over linoleum flooring.

If you re laying a ceramic tile sanded grout is fine. Visit ron hazelton s website for more home improvement projects. The answer is technically yes although it s not as simple as it sounds and will take a few adjustments before your flooring is ready to be converted to ceramic tile. In fact laying stone or ceramic tile over linoleum is not an ideal way to tile your floor but it can be done in a pinch.

When you are ready to lay ceramic tile in a room that already has a linoleum floor it s natural to be tempted to put the tiles over the linoleum floor to save yourself some work. Well the short answer is yes you can tile over linoleum flooring. 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. If you tile over old tile you will be increasing the height of the current floor.

You should be able to lay tile or marble over the linoleum. Installing ceramic tile over vinyl or linoleum surfaces can be more complicated than expected and probably should be avoided whenever possible. However if you do this you will end up causing problems that will cost you more time to fix in the long run. Most hard tiles such as stone ceramic and porcelain will need a new underlayment put down over the old linoleum.

As with laying tile over vinyl as long as the subfloor and joists provide a firm foundation the linoleum is well glued down in good shape and clean. But if your tile is glass or marble like our bathroom tile the sanded grout will scratch the surface and ruin your tile. Sheet linoleum floors and tiles that were made before 1990 often contain asbestos which is a known cancer causing agent. How old is the linoleum.

Adding ceramic tiles to these spaces can add an element of durability and aesthetic improvement but can you just slap ceramic tile over linoleum flooring to make that change. Pay attention to whether or not it has sand in it. Method for installing ceramic tile over vinyl flooring with a concrete sub floor if you have a concrete sub floor the task should be fairly simple. Learn a unique and time saving way to apply ceramic tile directly on top of vinyl flooring.

Carefully clean the grime and old wax off the floor using a strong ammonia based cleaner i use ammonia 1 1 but be sure to have the windows open and fans running.