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Orlando, FL

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My wife and I just purchased a home.

It has tile floors in the Living Room, Dining Room, Kitchen, Hallway and One Bedroom. The other two rooms have an inexpensive laminate.

Questions, Can we put a laminate floor over the tile and present laminate. Also, can we put tile over the present tile in the Kitchen? This home needs a lot of work and we want to save as much time and money as possible.

7 Comments

JL Spring & Associates Richmond, VA

You can try the laminate over the tile but it will sound very tinny and I would stay away from laminate over laminate as you'll lose integrity in the substructure. You can tile over tile too just be prepared to cut doors and re-run base boards and mouldings. Hope you post some project pix...would be worth a peek! Best wishes for a swell job's outcome...JL

on Oct 30, 2011 · Like 1
Yamini LEED AP at Urbanmo... Duluth, GA

Chris, Saving time and money now may lead to a not so satisfactory look and feel of the place in the long run. I suggest you keep away from laminate and install hardwoods instead.

on Oct 30, 2011 · Like 2
Steve G Fort Collins, CO

I agree with JL. I would recommend pulling up the tile and the laminate. Once you get started, it really shouldn't take too much time.
On the other hand, good laminate can be really attractive and durable, so it can be a good choice if you can't afford real hardwood now.

on Oct 30, 2011 · Like 2
Nicholas S Altamonte Springs, FL

I agree with Steve and most of what JL posted. If the old laminate is floating believe me it is not very difficult to remove, just pick a starting point and work out, it is easier then you think. As far as the tile it really should be removed. If any of the old tile is even a litte out of level you are going to see it more with the new tile. Once again it is not the difficult to rip up. You can rent what looks like a small electric jackhammer, Demo Hammer, from HomeDepot, Lowes, etc and ...»
you will be done in less then a day. The hardest part is moving the furniture and clean up. Good Luck and let us know.

on Oct 31, 2011 · Like 1
Hewitt Remodeling Service... Virginia Beach, VA

Chris,
Question.......Are you on a slab or a crawlspace/basement? I assume being in Orlando it is a slab, but it can make a difference... Thanks...Tim

on Oct 31, 2011 · Like 0
Shane Tallant Nashville, TN

Chris- We have done this many times on DTS. We have always pulled up the existing floor w/little problems. It seems like a daunting task, but in the long run, you will be much happier with it. Once you start pulling tile/laminate, it will come up fairly easily. GOOD LUCK!

on Oct 31, 2011 · Like 1
The Money Pit New York, NY

Chris, While you certainly can add another layer on top of the existing "floor sandwich" have, we'd recommend against it. It's best not to add to these many layers. Plus, in the kitchen, You may add so much floor thickness that the dishwasher no longer fits between the floor and the countertop.
There's a tool I saw demonstrated at the Remodeling Show a couple of weeks ago that can make removing the tile very quick. It is a floor scraper blade that is designed to fit into a ...»
reciprocating saw (like a Sawsall). It's called a Spyder Scraper. See: http://www.spyderproducts.com/spyder-scrape.... Hope this helps!

on Oct 31, 2011 · Like 2