Can You Lay Tile Over Vinyl Flooring – Today I’m sharing how we installed new vinyl plank flooring over an existing ceramic tile floor with just a few simple steps to ensure it was just right. We used Golden Select Vinyl Plank in Smokey Barrel.
When things suddenly and dramatically changed this spring with the pandemic and the cancellation of our spring break, we decided to pull together and tackle some household projects. We hadn’t decided if we should replace all the tiles in our basement as it seemed like a huge job since the ceramic tiles had been laid directly on the concrete sub-floor. But we also knew that we really wanted to change and refresh the look of the basement as well as create a more consistent flooring choice throughout the space. The old tiles were uneven, difficult to clean, hard on the feet and cold in winter. It wasn’t exactly our style or color choice either.
Can You Lay Tile Over Vinyl Flooring
By January I had painted all the walls white and we had added a wall of wallpaper. I had also bought some area rugs to cover the tough tiles and warm up this space, which definitely worked well as a temporary measure.
Installing Vinyl Flooring Over Ceramic Tile
But when we decided to convert the family room, updating the ceiling, flooring and cabinetry, the project only included all the common areas in the basement and hallway.
We headed down to Costco right before the pandemic took off and bought enough boxes of Golden Select Vinyl Plank Flooring (in Smokey Barrel) to cover the entire basement floor except for the three decently carpeted bedrooms. in good condition (and which keeps the heat in the winter). We also could have ordered the Golden Select from Costco online but were impatient to get started!
Before we left, we removed the baseboards and made sure to vacuum and clean our floors well.
I bought this high quality floor patch mix at my local hardware store and mixed it according to the package. Because our tile had a faux textured finish, we wanted to smooth it out before putting the vinyl on top.
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I used a wide putty to apply the mixture to the grout joints and any areas that were low, making sure to spread it out smoothly and scrape off any excess product.
Since we had already installed vinyl planks in the family room, we lined up the floorboards with that door so the line continued. We laid it out first, working our way back from the family room door, to determine how wide our first piece would need to be.
You can see below, where the door is open in the top left of the photo, how we lined up the planks so they were in a straight line and flowed off the hallway into the basement family room. We later used a transition strip where the two rooms were slightly different in height, but we still wanted the planks to be straight between the two rooms.
The installation went much faster than we had expected, given that we had quite a few small cuts.
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We found some spots that weren’t even, so it was important to build up the floor with the patching compound to make sure the vinyl plank was laid on top of a smooth surface. We had to do this as the flooring stopped before entering the furnace/engine room in the basement.
We were very pleased with how easy it was to install this vinyl plank flooring (read more information and installation tips in this post).
You can also watch the video I made with our tips – the process is the same with the addition of making sure your floor is completely level (and patching as needed) when going directly over an old tile floor!
No matter how much white paint I used on the walls, and how much I cleaned the floor before, it always felt dirty and old. Having a uniform, easy to clean, beautiful plank floor downstairs completely transformed the basement area!
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We shared how we laid this same flooring directly over the concrete sub-floor in our family room in this post.
You can find Golden Select at Costco and it comes in several nice color options. We love the Smokey Barrel color, but I would really love to use Antique Oak in our new build!
The Happy Housie is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program. If you click on a link that leads to Amazon, I may receive a commission on eligible purchases – at no cost to you. Thank you for your support! Scroll to Top All the supplies and steps you need to install vinyl flooring over old tile yourself for a temporary fix.
Favorite project EVER! Okay, I probably say that about 50% of all the projects we do around here, but this is definitely up there on the charts of most-converting-for-the-least-amount-of-money.
How To Clean Peel & Stick Floor Tiles
If you’ve been following our master bathroom update, Robert and I had painted the walls, trim, and trim up until last weekend. But the ceramic tile floor still looked like this:
Even though we had saved the ceramic tile in our kitchen and hallway using a grout pen before, this floor seemed a little more advanced. And since we’re sticking with the existing countertop and shower for now (until a real gut / renovation down the road), I wanted a floor that would modernize the 80s beige a little better.
Except I wanted to avoid the tile painting and stenciling route like so many DIYers have been doing here lately. With a 3 month old in the house, I wasn’t loving the idea of fumes and I wanted this job to be quick and set up in an hour or two.
Normally, if you were doing a major renovation, I would NOT recommend putting vinyl flooring on top of tile. I think for a permanent floor it should be done the “right” way. But for a quick level 1 fix, this is a great DIY solution to carry you through until you’re ready for some messy contractor work.
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So if you want to do the same to some of your existing tiles that have seen better days, here’s how we did it.
2. Once the mortar has dried in about 24-48 hours, you can sand any rough spots with medium-grit sandpaper.
3. Sweep the floor and remove any debris with a dust pan as you don’t want anything stuck under your vinyl flooring.
4. Remove quarter ring and base plates with crowbar and hammer or mallet. Here’s a post to help you with that, if you’ve never done it before. Set the quarter round trim and baseboards aside to re-install after the vinyl sheet is in (assuming they are in good condition).
Achim Retro 12×12 Self Adhesive Vinyl Floor Tile
5. Measure all the edges around the room and draw a diagram of your room on a piece of paper using these measurements. Never a dull moment with this guy around, even with mundane surveying jobs. 😉
Also include measurements of obstructions in the room. We removed our old toilet beforehand (this is a great toilet removal video with a good tip to keep water from leaking everywhere), so we measured where to cut a hole in our vinyl sheet for that too.
7. Roll out your vinyl record and take a nap. Just kidding. 😉 Well… if you do, we won’t blame you. But at least roll out the vinyl sheet (DO NOT turn it upside down for measuring/cutting in the next step).
8. Using your diagram as a reference, mark your measurements using the tape measure on the edges of the vinyl sheet to create a template.
Laying Vinyl Planks Over Tile Floors — Ashley French
10. And cut the vinyl with sharp scissors or a utility knife. After your floor is cut, wipe up any remaining chalk lines (Mr. Clean Magic Erasers work great).
11. Drag your vinyl record into the room and roll it out. Cut the remaining spots with a knife as needed when you put it in the room.
12. Reinstall your baseboards and quarter round trims with a nail gun to hold the edges of the floor in place. (This was per our manufacturer’s instructions for our particular vinyl floor, but the floor’s manufacturer may require you to glue first.)
13. Then apply white silicone sealant to fill cracks on the reinstalled trim. And attach vinyl edging where it meets the shower/tub/door threshold as well.
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But with the mix of warm and cool tones in this floor, I think it makes the blue and beige look cohesive.
So now the next thing on the agenda is patching, touching up some paint and installing a new toilet (because the old one desperately needed to be pulled out for good).
I will be painting the door Benjamin Moore Wrought Iron this week to match the rest of the ones in the house which are already this deep charcoal color.
And I will hang a window
Vinyl Composition Tile
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