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Can You Put New Flooring Over Tile?
Which floors can go over old tile, how to check the tile first, the height problems at doors and appliances, and when it's better to take the tile up.
Quick answer
Covering old tile skips the noise and dust of taking it up, and in the right room it works well. In the wrong one, the joints open up, the grout lines show through, or the dishwasher won’t come out. Here’s how to tell which room you have.
What can go over tile
| Floor | Over old tile? | Installation from |
|---|---|---|
| Rigid-core click vinyl | Yes, if the tile is sound and flat; the usual choice | $3.20 per sq ft |
| Laminate | Yes, on an underlay, but not in a bathroom | $3.20 per sq ft |
| Click engineered hardwood | Yes, floating, if the height works at the doors | $3.20 per sq ft |
| Glue-down vinyl | Only once the tile is skim-coated flat | $5.50 per sq ft, glue included |
| Solid hardwood | No: it’s nailed down, and nails don’t go through tile | Not over tile |
| New tile | Better on a clean base, once the old tile is up | $13.50 per sq ft, labour only |
Taking up the old tile is included in our installation price, and the floor itself is priced on top. Filling grout lines or skim-coating is on your written quote.
Check the tile first
A new floor laid over tile is only as good as the tile under it. Before deciding, look for:
- Loose or hollow tiles. Tap them with the handle of a screwdriver. A hollow sound means the tile has let go of the floor, and a tile that moves keeps moving under the new floor.
- Cracks. A cracked tile often means the floor underneath flexes, and the new floor would flex with it.
- Edges that don’t line up. Tiles sitting higher than their neighbours, or dips across the room, show through and work click joints loose.
- Wide or deep grout lines. These are filled flush first, or they telegraph through as faint lines in the new floor.
- Any sign of water underneath. Stained or loose tiles around a toilet, a tub or a dishwasher mean the tile comes up so the damage can be seen.
If the tile passes, it can stay. If it doesn’t, it comes up, and that’s part of the job rather than an extra.
The floor gets higher
Tile is already one of the thickest floors in the house. Putting a new floor and its underlay on top raises the room again, and that shows up in a few places.
- Doorways. Where the room meets a hallway or a carpeted room, you get a taller step or a transition strip, and a door may need trimming to swing clear.
- The dishwasher. If the new floor runs up to the dishwasher but not under it, the dishwasher can be trapped the day it needs to come out. Check the gap under the counter before choosing.
- Cabinets and islands. A floating floor goes around them, not under them, so it can move with the seasons.
- Stairs. At the top or bottom of a staircase, a raised floor makes that one step shorter than the rest, and an uneven step is easy to trip on.
Thinner floors help. Glue-down vinyl adds the least height, but it needs the tile skim-coated flat first. See click vs glue-down vinyl.
Bathrooms
Rigid-core vinyl is the floor to put over bathroom tile, because the planks are waterproof. Laminate isn’t, and a bathroom is where water finds the joints. If you’re redoing a main bathroom, new tile is still the better floor; vinyl over tile suits a powder room or a second bathroom best.
The toilet comes off so the new floor runs under it, not around it, and it’s reset on the new floor at the new height. Along the tub, the edge of the floor is sealed so water splashed from the tub can’t get under it. Our guide to vinyl flooring or tile compares the two for wet rooms.
Over it, or up with it?
Most people want to go over tile to save the cost of tearing it out. With us, that saving doesn’t exist: taking up your old floor, tile included, is part of our installation price, and it doesn’t need its own day booked. So the choice comes down to the tile, the height and the mess.
Go over it when the tile is sound and flat, the height works at every door and appliance, and you’d rather skip the noise and dust of breaking out tile. Take it up when any check above fails, when the height doesn’t work, when you want solid hardwood, or when new tile is going down.
A 200 square foot kitchen in click vinyl comes to 200 × $3.20 = $640 for installation, whether the old tile stays or goes. The vinyl itself is priced on top, and any grout filling or levelling is on your written quote. See flooring installation cost in Toronto and how long a new floor takes.
You get a free in-home measure with samples, one fixed written price, and up to two years on our workmanship. We’re licensed, insured up to $2 million and covered by WSIB.
Frequently asked questions
Can you put vinyl plank flooring over ceramic tile?
Yes, click vinyl can go over ceramic or porcelain tile if the tile is firmly stuck down, flat and not cracked. Wide or deep grout lines are filled first so they don’t show through the new floor.
Can you put laminate flooring over tile?
Yes, on an underlay, if the tile is sound and flat and the extra height works at doors and appliances. Keep it out of bathrooms, because laminate’s fibreboard core swells when water reaches it.
Can you put vinyl flooring over tile in a bathroom?
Yes. Rigid-core click vinyl is waterproof and goes over sound bathroom tile. The toilet comes off so the floor runs under it, and the edge along the tub is sealed.
Do you need to fill grout lines before laying vinyl over tile?
Wide or deep ones, yes, or they telegraph through as faint lines. For glue-down vinyl the whole floor is skim-coated flat, because thin vinyl shows every dip.
Should you remove tile before installing new flooring?
Take it up if any tiles are loose, cracked or uneven, if the height won’t work, or if new tile or solid hardwood is going down. With us, taking up the old floor is included in the installation price, so cost isn’t a reason to leave it.
Can you put new tile over old tile?
We recommend taking the old tile up instead. Tile on tile adds height and puts the new floor on an old bond nobody can check. Taking it up is included in our installation price.
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