Vinyl Plank Flooring Installation Over Tile – Today I’m sharing how we installed new vinyl planks on top of our ceramic tile flooring in a few easy steps to make sure it’s the right level. We used Golden Select Vinyl Plank in Smokey Barrel.
When things changed suddenly and dramatically this spring with the pandemic and our spring break vacations were canceled, we decided to buckle down and do some home projects. We hadn’t decided if we were going to replace all the tiles in our basement as it seemed like a big job since the ceramic tile was laid directly on the concrete subfloor. But we also knew we really wanted to change and refresh the look of the basement and create a consistent flooring choice throughout. The old tile was uneven, hard to clean, hard on the feet, and cold in the winter. And it wasn’t exactly our style or color choice.
Vinyl Plank Flooring Installation Over Tile
In January I repainted all the walls white and added a feature wall to the back. I had also purchased area rugs to cover the hard tile and warm the space, which worked well as a temporary measure.
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But when we decided to renovate the family room, update the ceiling, floor, and trim, the project that just snowballed included all the common areas of the basement and hallways.
We headed to Costco just before the whole thing went viral and bought enough boxes of Golden Select Vinyl Plank flooring (Smokey Barrel) to cover all of the basement except for three bedrooms with carpet in good condition (again. keeping things warm in the winter). . We might as well have ordered the Golden Select from Costco online, but we were impatient to get started!
Before we started, we removed the wallboards and made sure to vacuum and clean the floor thoroughly.
I purchased this premium floor patch compound at my local hardware store and mixed it according to the package directions. Because our tile had a faux-slate type of texture on it, we wanted to get it level before putting the vinyl on top.
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I used a wide putty knife to apply the compound to the grout joints and any areas that were on the floor, making sure to spread it well and clean off any excess product.
Since we had vinyl plank flooring in the family room already, we lined the floorboards by that door to continue the line. We laid it out first, going back from the family room door, to figure out how big our first piece needed to be.
You can see below, with the door open in the upper left of the picture, how we arranged the planks so they would be a straight line and flow from the hallway into the family basement. Later we used a replacement strip since the two rooms were a little different in height, but we still wanted the planks to be straight between the two rooms.
Installation went much faster than we expected, as we only had a few cuts to make.
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We encountered some spots that were not level, so it was important to build up the floor with patch compound to make sure the vinyl plank was installed on top of the level surface. We had to do this when the flooring stopped before entering the furnace/equipment in the basement.
We were very pleased with how easy it was to install this vinyl plank flooring (read more details and installation tips in this post).
You can also watch the video I made for our tips – the process is the same as adding to make sure your flooring is completely level (and patching as needed) when walking directly over old tile!
No matter how much white paint I used on the walls, and how much I cleaned the floor beforehand, it always felt dirty and old. Having a uniform, easy to clean, beautiful hardwood floor completely changed the basement!
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We share how we installed this same flooring directly over the concrete subfloor in our family room in this post.
You can find Golden Select at Costco and it comes in several great color options. We love the Smokey Barrel color, but I would really like to use Antique Oak in our new build!
Happy Housie participates in the Amazon Services LLC Associates program, an affiliate marketing program. If you click on a link that leads to Amazon, I may earn a commission on eligible purchases – at no cost to you. Thank you for your support! Scroll upAll the supplies and steps you need to install vinyl flooring over old tile yourself for a quick fix.
Favorite project EVER! Okay, I mean that’s about 50% of all the projects we do here, but this one is up there on the charts for the most value-for-money conversion.
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If you’ve been following our master bathroom remodel, Robert and I have been painting the walls, trim, and cabinetry up until this past weekend. But the ceramic tile floor looked like this:
Even though we had salvaged the ceramic tile in our kitchen and hall bathroom using a grout pen in the past, this floor seemed a bit off. And since we were stuck with the existing counter and shower for now (until a real gut/renovation down the road), I wanted a place that would modernize the 80s beige a little better.
Except I wanted to ditch the tile paint and siding route like so many DIYers have been doing here lately. With a 3 year old in the house, I didn’t like the idea of smoke and wanted the job to be quick and the installation done in an hour or two.
Generally, if you were doing a major renovation, I would NOT suggest laying a vinyl floor over tile. I think that in order to have a lasting floor, it has to be done the “right” way. But for a quick Phase 1 fix, it’s a great DIY solution to carry around until you’re ready for a dirty contractor job.
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So if you want to do the same thing for some of your tile floors to see better days, here’s how we made it happen.
2. Once the mortar has dried in about 24-48 hours, sand any rough spots with medium grit sandpaper.
3. Sweep the floor and remove any debris with a dustpan as you don’t want to catch anything under your vinyl floor.
4. Remove the quarter round and base boards with a crowbar and mallet or hammer. Here is a post that will help you with it, if you have never done it before. Set the quarter round strip and floorboards aside to reinstall after the sheet vinyl is in (assuming it’s in good shape).
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5. Measure all the edges around the room and draw a diagram of your room on paper using those measurements. Never have a hard time with this guy, even with normal measurement tasks. 😉
Include measurements of any obstacles in the room as well. We removed our old toilet earlier (this is a great toilet removal video with a great tip to prevent water dripping everywhere), so we measured where to cut a hole in our sheet vinyl for that as well.
7. Get out your sheet vinyl and take a nap. I’m kidding. 😉 Well… if you do, we wouldn’t blame you. But at least remove the sheet vinyl (DO NOT flip it upside down to measure/cut in the next step).
8. Use your drawing as a reference to mark your measurements using a tape measure around the edges of the vinyl sheet to create a template.
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10. And cut the sheet vinyl with sharp scissors or a utility knife. After your floor is cut, erase any remaining chalk lines (Mr. Clean Magic Erasers work well).
11. Drag your cut sheet vinyl to the room and remove it. Trim any remaining areas with a utility knife as needed as you place it in the chamber.
12. Reinstall your floor boards and quarter round trim with a nail gun to hold the edges of your floor in place. (This was per our vinyl floor manufacturer’s instructions, but your floor manufacturer may require you to apply an adhesive first.)
13. Then, use white silicone caulk to fill the cracks in the re-inserted cut. Also tape the sheet vinyl edging where it meets the shower/tub/door threshold as well.
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But with the combination of warm and cool tones on this floor, I feel like it makes the blue and beige come together.
So now next on the agenda is to patch, touch up a little paint, and install a new toilet (because the old one really needed to be removed permanently).
I’m going to paint the Benjamin Moore Wrought Iron door this week to match the rest of the house which is already that deep charcoal color.
And I’ll be hanging out the window
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