I wanted to put ceramic tile over the linoleum (in good shape) in our bathroom (floor is concrete). Can I do this or do I need to remove all the linoleum? Thanks
the difficulty with laying tile down is that if the floor is uneven in any respect (i.e., not completely flat) your helpful new costly ceramic tiles will harm! terrific to locate a place the place you are able to look below the linoleum and notice what's below it...yet, all that reported, that's why the pro will flow all the way all the way down to the sub-floor, get each little thing helpful and point, then placed down a million/2 cementitious backer-board (a million/4 for partitions, a million/2 for flooring) and then lay the tile. That way, that's worked out in improve despite the fact that if/if there will be a height difference between the recent tile floor and any flooring in rooms adjacent it...in any different case, that's oops, I tripped lower back. Spend the time, attempt and funds and do it precise.
Remove the linoleum. The adherence of your tile is only as good as the material it is bonded to. Linoleum (or more correctly, vinyl) is a poor base to lay tiles over. Remove the vinyl, scrape the concrete of any vinyl adhesive, and mop the floor with TSP. (Tri-sodium phosphate, found at most hardware stores) This will remove most substances from the concrete and create a better surface for your tile. Let the floor dry overnight before setting the tiles.
You should remove the linoleum before putting down the ceramic tile. You can tile over the linoleum, but you need to make very sure it is fully stuck to the concrete, cleaned very thoroughly and etched so the thin-set has something to stick to. It's a small area? Remove the linoleum.
My kitchen was tiled with ceramic over the linoleum..it has a concrete floor under it..it has no cracks or grout failure after 8 years. The tiler man just cut the curled edges like around the perimeter and he rough sanded the lino so the mortar would stick good. He said as long as the lino is still stuck good to the floor there is no problem tiling over it as long as it is prepped right. He must be right after all those years and still no problems! Removing old lino is a pain if it is still stuck really well.
I don't know where everyone gets your info, you can put tile over linoleum but you must first rough up the surface for tile cement to adhere. Most manufacturers recommend 1 1/4 of sub floor so floor won't flex to much and crack the grout.
