Is it possible to tile over vinyl floor with coving?

Jan Lines
by Jan Lines
I have nasty vinyl in my kitchen that is coved at the wall. Anybody ever tiled over it and then used a vinyl baseboard? If not, anybody covered it with something else?
  5 answers
  • Jo Jo on Apr 07, 2015
    Do it right or you might have problems down the road. Just remove it, you will be happy you did.
  • Lee Govan Lee Govan on Apr 07, 2015
    Sorry but no. You can't put a rigid covering over a flexible one. Remove the coving or, hide it. Build out over it, if you take the build out, build out and up to about waist height, you could cap it with a 4 inch wide wooden board and have narrow shelving for a cook book display, spices, air plants, whatever. If you have the room, create another bench, or even a fold down table so that you just have to put a fitted skirting board along the coving and loose a little of your floor space. with the table either up or down it will look the part. Great extra surface for when you are entertaining or crafting.
  • Kathy Munson Kathy Munson on Apr 07, 2015
    The simplest fix would be to cut out the coved section at the base where it starts and the top of the cove section on the wall. Remove the cove molding piece from behind the finished flooring. Install a floating wood or laminate flooring over the top of the vinyl. Install a thicker baseboard over the top of the vinyl on the wall and use it to cover the expansion gap needed for a floating floor. If the base does not completely cover the gap; add a piece of base shoe or quarter round to the bottom of the base. Being careful to not nail it to the floating floor.
  • Jhmarie Jhmarie on Apr 08, 2015
    I assume you are talking about a vinyl floor. If you want to tile, you will need to remove the old floor and cove base. It will rip up the bottom of your drywall some - limit that by being careful. New wood baseboards would be installed after tiling the floor. Tile needs to be on a very sturdy substrate for floors - usually cement board or Ditra. In some cases, where the old floor is very sound and not cushiony, Ditra can be applied over it. For detailed tile instructions, try the John Bridge Tile Forum.
  • DebbieF DebbieF on Feb 08, 2016
    I have white linoleum that is on the kitchen floor. It has green diamond shapes about I inch tall and I hate it. Can I use any type of flooring to just go over top of it without tearing the linoleum up? I am trying to do this on my own. I was looking to use some kind of self stick tile.