I have a kitchen and lounge floor to be tiled (with porcelain tiles) but I have old vinyl flooring stuck down (and it's utterly and truly stuck down) on my kitchen floor. Can I tile over it without any problems later on or do I have no choice but to remove the vinyl flooring first please? I am a lady (50 in April) with hardly any budget left to employ a professional to do it for me so that's out of the question Is flexi underlay an option...if cheap? Really need your professional advice please asap! Many thanks Dee
Whilst I would always advise to take it up, I recently chiselled up a tiled kitchen floor that had been down for over 30 years with no problems, no cracks, still fully grouted etc, and the original vinyl was stuck down underneath the tiles.
That will be stuck down very well! KIAB will be along later and no doubt recommend a suitable primer for it.
If the vinyl is well and truly stuck down with no bulges or flappy bits, it’s fully bonded across its whole surface to floor and it’s like hard vinyl (don’t know proper name) but it’s not like Lino or cushion flooring - ? , then go for it I recon Clean and degrease floor 1st, so sweep, hot solution of floor cleaner, washing up liquid or sugar soap solution is all good, couple washes, rinse off with clean water Then 2 coats of SBR as per dilution rates on container. SBR looks like PVA but 2 differant beasts - don’t be tempted to go PVA route ..... just DONT This will give a great bond between tile adhesive and vinyl, just use quality materials throughout, tile adhesive, grout, etc, taking into account budget but don’t scrimp, you want this to last A pro would perhaps insist the lot comes up but, only you can decide, good prep is essential Bal Bond SBR actually states that’s its for prep prior to tiling over vinyl floors. Available in 1lt from Topps Tiles as an example
I’m just trying to be helpful from time to time Astra, as we all are I think you will find that my advice is sound I don’t go as far as posting as many links as Kiab tbh, happy to help but sometimes you just have to wipe ur own botty
Don’t know if uv been on this great forum before Esined but Kiab, he’s a great knowledgeable fella, a proper Trade Pro (well, I think he’s a fella ? May not be) anyway, always giving out quality advice and he always - well, 99.9% of the time has links to back up recommendations / products I’m happy to give advice if I feel I can, although I’m diy, done loads over the years but, I don’t always feel it’s neccesary to ‘take the horse to water’ , if you know what I mean, and really, no offence to you, happy to help and offer advice But,,,,,, we all can access google these days so it’s easy peasy lemon squeezy to find any product in seconds Anyway, good luck with this project and keep the forum posted
Well I'm glad you answered my post....your advice makes sense.....so please may I ask you for advice if needed in the future DIYDave? x
Probably best to approach the forum as a whole, there’s a great resource of knowlede that lurks here, plus you often get more than 1 solution to any given problem Even when not asking a question, great way of picking up tips simply by reading through posts Enjoy
What size is the kitchen area that you what tiled ? Before you commit to putting tiles down pop into one of the tile showrooms and get a quote as the costs can go up very quickly when you add in the adhesive, grout, tools etc. SBR isn't something you want you literally don't want to mess with. It is horrible stuff that is difficult and messy to mix if you are inexperienced and will make an awful mess on everything it touches. Tiling floors is quite hard work especially on the knees and back. Unless you can get the tiles absolutely flat across the floor you will constantly be tripping over the tiny imperfections. Whilst I admire you thoughts of having a go at floor tiling, it is one of those jobs that needs quite a bit of skill and if it goes wrong can be quite expensive to rectify. I would consider getting in a pro for a job like this.
Thank you so much for your advice. I have all the materials here already to start just need them laid down! I have found a fella who after a hard time negotiating (felt sorry me being an old girl in need!) managed to agree on him laying the tiles for £450 ! (Lounge and kitchen) approx 14x10ft kitchen and 14x13ft lounge but he wants everything up...moved....removed etc first! (Sigh) I'm too nervous to do it myself !! The horrendous vinyl flooring is surprisingly flat/level but stuck down like I can't quite believe!!