I have a very ugly cement backyard area, were the homeowners before me thought it was cool to put orange, red and yellow tennise court paint down and now thats chipping away it is really ugly. So can I just lay stone tile down to make it look better or what can I do. The cement is probly 25 years old no cracks that I can see their is one corner that is lower then the rest mybe from settling maybe from a lazy DIY'er.
What part of the county do you live? I ask because the freeze/thaw cycle might be a major source of trouble later. If water penetrates under the tile, into the grout, and freezes in the winter as it does here in MO, the tile will pop off. If you are lucky enough to live in a southern state, it shouldn't be a problem. Remove the paint first. Rent a power washer, it will help!
From what you say, the concrete appears to be stable and will probably make a good underlayment for your tile. Your problem, however, is the paint on the surface. Any tile installed on such a surface will come up along with the paint if and when it delaminates from the concrete. By scoring, scraping, chemically, or some means; bring the existing finish down to raw concrete and bipass a nightmare down the road. Good luck!
If you are laying tile using a cement or tile adhesive then you should be okay once you clean off the paint. Some larger tiles (like saltillo tiles) will require some expertize to get them properly laid. If you want stone or concrete pavers, then the previous answer is correct. You will need to completely rip up with old concrete and then use sand and a compactor to prep the surface.
If I get what your trying to do is put an OUTSIDE stone pavers or similar outside stone product down over an old, very ugly, cement patio. Both previous answers would be correct if you were putting tile down INSIDE. Actually you can't put inside tile over cement either. I'm very sorry to tell you this, but you need to remove the old pavement first.The new stone has to sit on a sand or forgiving stable base otherwise it will never last and just constantly move on you. Remove the cement, level the area, put down a sand mixture for patio stones(easy to find), rent a vibrating stamper to help settle the stones in place, cover with more sand and sweep with a broom to fill the gaps between the stones, vibrate again, broom again etc. until gaps are filled and you are all set. The pavement should break no problem with a sledge hammer, problem is disposing of it. If it doesn't break easy, rent an electric jack hammer. They're not hard to work with, and will save your arms, trust me, I know from experience .
