Are you putting off lifting a ceramic floor because the idea of the task is just too daunting? Ceramic tiles are known for their durability, making any attempt to remove the floor a challenge, to say the least. The process can result in a lot of shattered ceramic, sweat and tears throughout your Northern Territory home. For these reasons and more, many homeowners opt for leaving the tiles in place and covering them with new flooring.
Going over the top of ceramic tiles is usually the easiest option. Your greatest enemy is space; although certain flooring materials may present challenges. The following options are the most viable covering for ceramic tiles, without too much fuss.
Ceramic Tiles
Yes, you read that right. New ceramic tiles can be installed over the top of old flooring. You will need to sand the surface of the old tiles, making them scratched, so that a new thin-set and tiles is able to easily adhere to the surface. One of the barriers you may run into is the distance between the original tile surface and doors. Patch levelling will make the original floor level enough for a new install. You may still need to cut your doors to accommodate the new height.
The great thing about choosing ceramic tiles as your new floor covering is that you get added durability and won’t have to worry about the laborious task of lifting the old ceramic floor. The downside is, if you do decide to replace the flooring again in the future, you will have two layers of ceramic tile with which to contend.
Wood Flooring
Solid wood flooring is usually out when you don’t want to lift a ceramic floor. This type of flooring requires thick plywood sub-flooring for support. When you add ¾ inch thick flooring on top of that, it’s just not worth the trouble it would take. You can use engineered wood flooring which is glued directly to the ceramic tile surface. Choosing the right thickness shouldn’t be a problem as engineered wood flooring ranges from 5/16 to 5/8 of an inch thick.
Engineered wood flooring is designed for easy install. You shouldn’t face any problems laying it over the top of ceramic tiles. If you have any damaged tiles that have resulted in holes in the flooring, any suitable filler will solve that problem. You must also sand the floor down so that it is level before laying an engineered wood floor on top.
Laminate Flooring
For a really simple install, laminate flooring is an excellent choice over ceramic tiles. This flooring system is thin and you don’t have to worry about adhesive. Additionally, the padded underlay used with laminate flooring handles the problem of smoothing out the original tiled flooring. If you are on a budget and pushed for time, laminate flooring will most definitely save the day.
Carpet
Carpet is an option for covering over ceramic tiles but there are a few challenges to keep in mind. The thickness of the carpet may cause problems with doors and the general, raised appearance of the floor. You won’t be able to nail your tack strips into a tiled floor unless you want to deal with the risk of the tile shattering. The recommended approach is drilling the holes for tack strips to avoid any issues. Alternatively, epoxy can be used to stick the tack strips but it’s a costly option and a messy job.
You have some added height with carpet and the often frustrating job of getting tack stripped secured without incident, but all-in-all it’s a workable solution for covering old tiles.
