Installing vinyl planks over ceramic tile

9 years ago

I started out posting on the paint forum because I was thinking about painting my existing ceramic tile in my entrance way. For the most part I was advised not a good idea.

However one post did suggest about installing vinyl planks over my tile, which led me to post on this forum.

Thoughts about doing this?? I have read that you can use some kind of leveling compound or similar to level out the grout area. My existing tile is 13 x 13. Removing it is not an option for me and I really hate it. It's very light - almost white with dark brown grout.

My other question is that this floor butts up to my family room which is hardwood. All my floors are hardwood on my first level except the foyer. Would the planks look stupid next to hardwood? There is a wood strip between the two floors.

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Comments (5)

glennsfc
9 years ago
It will NOT look stupid. There are vinyl plank floors that imitate the real thing so well, that you have to get down on your hands and knees to discover it's not the real thing.

You want to use a cementious skim coat floor filler to make for a smooth and flush substrate. Most of these have the binder incorporated in the powdered formulation, so there is no need to add a binder or a primer with any of those. But...read the product labels to know what you're buying and what performance you can expect. Of course, if the fillers available to you suggest adding a liquid binder or using a primer, then do that.

A trowellable skim coat floor filler is done with a smooth edge trowel in several passes. After the first coat is set enough to walk on, it should be ready for another coat. Remember, a smooth and flush result is what you want to achieve.

After the floor is absolutely smooth, then install your vinyl plank using the recommended adhesive.
Karen Marcely
Original Author
9 years ago
Thanks glennsfc, Just wondering I wouldn't want to try and match the two floors would I? The vinyl planks are wider and so my thought is run those a different direction than the adjacent family room and maybe a different color, so it wouldn't look like I'm trying to match it?
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glennsfc
9 years ago
You can run the vinyl plank in the other direction, if you think it will look better done that way. My advice is to dry lay some of the flooring and see what looks good to you. Width of the plank should have little bearing on your choice of direction. You have two things to consider: 1. How the floor will look in the room. 2. How the two rooms look together.

As I said, dry laying some of it will show you what will look best to you.
laylow
9 years ago
Buy core- Tec very good product ,easy installation ,very durable and looks good down
Karen Marcely
Original Author
9 years ago
laylow, where do you purchase core-tec? Is that online only? How is that applied, glue, click - lock system?

Is there a suggestion as to which is better, the glue down luxury vinyl or the click type. I have read some people saying the click type is difficult to install.

Any suggestions as to what type/brand would be best would be great. I have been looking at the Allure Ultra at Home Depot, which is a click type.