With more than 20 years of practical experience in renovating, repairing, and enhancing residences, Lee has been offering home improvement guidance for many years.
Vinyl tiles, along with other varieties of vinyl flooring like sheets or planks, are outstanding options for renovating a kitchen or bathroom.
Vinyl flooring offers a cost-effective and long-lasting solution. Its ability to withstand moisture is unmatched by other flooring options. Installation is straightforward and can typically be completed by a DIY enthusiast, allowing you to finish a small room in just a day or two.
Typically, vinyl flooring is installed over a plywood underlayment. But what if there’s an existing flooring that you prefer not to take out? Is it possible to lay vinyl flooring over tiles or other types of flooring?
Lay Vinyl Tile on These Surfaces
Using the right underlayment, vinyl flooring can be installed on:
- Cement-based flooring
- Laminate floor coverings
- Vinyl flooring
- Engineered wood flooring made from solid hardwood
- Manufactured wood flooring
- Porcelain or natural stone tiles
Trending Vinyl Flooring Renovation Ideas
Like many remodeling endeavors, proper preparation plays a crucial role in the process. When it comes to installing flooring, ensuring the right base or substrate is essential for achieving a durable and aesthetically pleasing result. This is especially vital for thinner flooring options, such as vinyl.
When evaluating the option of replacing your flooring, the existing floor covering serves as the primary substrate. Therefore, the same factors that pertain to a conventional plywood subfloor are relevant to this floor covering substrate as well.
Vinyl Flooring Installed on Top of Wooden Flooring
Vinyl flooring can be installed over solid hardwood or engineered wood flooring. However, if the wood has significant gaps, these need to be addressed beforehand. Additionally, older solid hardwood may experience cupping or swelling over time, which can complicate direct installation. In such cases, an underlayment would be necessary to facilitate the installation.
Vinyl Flooring Installed on Top of Laminate Flooring
Laminate flooring can serve as a base for vinyl flooring. Similar to solid wood floors, laminate can expand when exposed to moisture. Since vinyl should only be laid over a flat, securely attached surface, it’s important to address any high-moisture spots beforehand and ensure the surface is as level as possible. Inspect areas around the dishwasher, sink, and refrigerator for moisture issues.
Floating laminate flooring is not secured to the subfloor, making it simple to remove. If your flooring is of the floating type (not adhered), you are likely to achieve better outcomes by taking up the laminate before installing vinyl over it.
Vinyl Flooring Installed Over Tile
Vinyl flooring can be laid directly on top of ceramic and porcelain tiles, provided that the grout lines are minimal. Any cracked or absent tiles need to be repaired or replaced. Larger gaps between the tiles may result in minor indentations in the vinyl. In cases where the tile flooring has significant or deep seams, it is advisable to use an underlayment instead of placing the vinyl directly on the tiles.
6 Factors to Consider When Installing Vinyl Over Existing Flooring
In many situations, it is possible to lay vinyl flooring over an existing floor. Typically, the material of the underlying floor does not prevent it from serving as a base for the vinyl. Provided that the existing flooring possesses the necessary qualities of a suitable substrate, it can be utilized for the installation.
It’s important to remember that vinyl flooring is lightweight, pliable, and thin. Unlike thicker and more rigid flooring options, vinyl is not capable of effectively covering or leveling out imperfections in the underlying surface. For instance, solid hardwood or engineered wood can effectively span gaps, fill in holes, and conceal seams, as well as provide a smoother surface over any embossing.
With vinyl flooring, any imperfections beneath can potentially show through, or “telegraph,” to the surface layer. Additionally, significant gaps can lead to the development of depressions in the vinyl flooring over time.
Typically, a base layer made of large-format panels, like 1/4-inch thick plywood or MDF sheets measuring 4 feet by 8 feet, is utilized as an underlayment prior to the installation of vinyl flooring. This base layer is an enhancement to the existing subfloor. Large-format underlayment sheets are particularly effective for vinyl flooring as they provide additional support, minimize seams, and effectively cover minor imperfections and surface textures.
Robust and Durable
Taking off the floor coverings allows the installer to evaluate the state of the subfloor. If the current floor covering is left in place, it becomes challenging to determine whether the subfloor is damaged, decayed, or otherwise in
Continuous or Closely Joined Flooring
Large-format panels offer a surface for installation with minimal seams. For instance, in a kitchen measuring 16 feet in length and 12 feet in width, utilizing six underlayment panels would lead to only a limited number of seams.
In comparison, a solid hardwood floor serving as a base can contain numerous seams. If this hardwood floor exhibits issues like significant gaps between the boards, often caused by water damage, it would not be appropriate as a base for the vinyl flooring.
Free from any holes or flaws.
Elevated areas in the substrate need to be smoothed out, while any depressions should be filled in. Although minor flaws may not be visible on the vinyl flooring right away, they can eventually manifest as low dips or raised areas on the surface as time goes on.
Minimal or No Embossing
A sought-after characteristic of certain tiles, laminates, and vinyl is the presence of surface embossing. This embossing creates subtle variations in height, enhancing the realism of the flooring by mimicking the texture of natural materials, such as wood, or simply improving its overall aesthetic.
Prominent embossing can eventually become visible on the surface of vinyl flooring. This is generally not an issue with thicker vinyl options (6.5 mm), but it can occur with thinner planks, particularly those measuring 3.5 mm or less. Thinner vinyl is more susceptible to reflecting the underlying texture, making it more likely to show through.
Dried Below
Moisture that gets trapped between vinyl flooring and the surface beneath it can lead to the growth of mold and mildew, as the moisture lacks a way to evaporate. It is essential for freshly poured concrete to completely cure and dry before installing vinyl flooring over it.
Permissible Height
When installing one type of flooring over another, height can become a concern. If the existing flooring is at a suitable height, will the new layer make it excessively high? Opting for vinyl flooring as the top layer is a favorable option, as it contributes less height compared to other flooring materials.
