I have ceramic tile in my bathroom and I don‘t like it. It‘s extra slippery and very cold in the winter. Yes I do use a rug but the parts that are exposed are cold. I want to put those peel-n-stick tiles on top of them, but what do I have to do to prepare the floor if it‘s even possible to do this? Thanks in advance for any tips and advice!
Yeah, Ryder's intuition is right. You can't put peel-n-sticks ( or any other vinyl) on top of ceramic. You can although, have a good carpet shop make up a custom fit rug (from ordinary wall to wall carpeting) that will cover your entire bathroom floor. We've made thousands of them. You keep the resale value of your tile, and it goes away at the same time. ...a really good shop can even make you a matching toilet seat cover to match your rug...
If you are going to be in your house forever, use carpet. If not, do not remove it as it is an asset to your property. If you use peel and stick in a bathroom, they will eventually start warping and lose their grip. I doubt the peel and stick tiles will be any better regarding temperature than the tiles you have now. Tiles are valuable when you go to sell and I would advise you not to change that. Use a rug if you want, but do not hide or change the tiles.
Whatever you do.......do not put peel-n-stick tiles on top of ceramic. I don't even think that's possible. Even if you pull the tile up first, it's like trading in a Porsche for a Hyundai. If you're not Bob Villa and you don't live in Alaska, then I would suggest forgetting the idea all together and just living with the tile. Pulling up the tile will cause MAJOR trauma to your mental health and really put a dent in you equity.
Go shopping for new tile, then hire the contractor to teat off old tile , and install new ones. You can install electric heated floor under your new tile too (keeps floor warm with little usage of energy) Depending on where do you live (and how big a bathroom is) - cost of labor will be somewhere from 3 - 6 $ per square foot (but not less than 400) heated floor - around 400 plus $5-8 per square foot.
Peel and stick tiles are a bad idea even on the best sub floor. Putting them directly over ceramic is just begging for trouble. You will either have to put a levelling compound over the tile first or tear out the tile. I would strongly advise you tear out the tile if you really want a vinyl floor. You will be taking away some of the value of your house by taking out ceramic and installing vinyl. If you really want vinyl use sheet vinyl, the self stick tiles always unstick and the seams get lots of dirt stuck in them. If you have access to the floor under the tile you can always install in floor heating. It will feel real nice when you get out of the shower and it adds value to your house.
