# Can I ceramic tile over linoleum?



## redline

vinyl tile
or ceramic tile?


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## havetime_4fun

*Sorry,.*

I'll be installing ceramic tile.


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## Bonus

No you cannot lay ceramic tile over lino. When you put the lino down did you use some sort of underlayment? Like 1/4" particle board or plywood? If so the easiest way to get up the lino is to pull the underlayment. Then you likely need another layer of plywood, then cement board and then tile.


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## LanterDan

I took up a linoleum kitchen floor a couple of weeks ago. I used 6" ice scrapper and it came up very easily. The floor was 26 years old, so maybe that had something to do with it, as it the glue was very brittle and would break up easily. The 1/4" masonite beneath the lino was a very serious pain to take up though.

I've seen several cases where people have tiled over existing lino and vinyl, so if I wouldn't say it *couldn't* be done (if the lino is in good shape, but if it is then why are you replacing it?), but I woundn't recomend it. 

Bonus, I don't see why you are laying plywood and cement board down. Assuming his concrete floor is in good shape (flat, no active cracks) I think you should be able to tile directly over that (with some sort of vapor barrier).


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## 747

If he has a cement floor. Best ways is to get down to cement. Then spread some kind of thinset or something you guys no what i mean over that cement floor and lay the cement board over the thin set or thick set before it sets up than mesh the seams then slap some thin set or something over the mess tap let dry then your ready for tile and acourse the thin or thick set of your choice. That is the a experience tile guy would do it. Oh and acourse screw down that cement board.


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## Bonus

Lanterdan, mea culpa, missed that in the post. No ply/cbu nec.

747, where you bin? We missed ya.


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## R&D Tile

747 said:


> If he has a cement floor. Best ways is to get down to cement. Then spread some kind of thinset or something you guys no what i mean over that cement floor and lay the cement board over the thin set or thick set before it sets up than mesh the seams then slap some thin set or something over the mess tap let dry then your ready for tile and acourse the thin or thick set of your choice. That is the a experience tile guy would do it. Oh and acourse screw down that cement board.


NO CBUs over concrete.:no:


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## 747

I just seen them do it like that on hometime 5am saturday morning. I guesss they didn't do it rite.


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## msjay2u

why do you even have to put a sub floor down? I ripped up the linoleum in my kitchen and applied the tile directly to the cement slap floor and it came out wonderful. I did this in my kitchen and my patio.


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## Tony1963

Although it is not recommended, it is possible to lay over lino if you are sure the lino is solid. It is always best to remove the lino to prevent the possiblity of the tiles coming up over time. However I have been remodeling homes for over 23 years and have consistantly layed tile directly to concrete floors using only thinset and have NEVER had any problems, all my floors have stayed just fine and as I guarantee my work always, it is not in my best interest to do shoddy work. Forget all the extra underlayment it is not needed. Follow the KISS procedure : Keep It Simple Stupid.


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## Floorwizard

> Keep It Simple Stupid.


I agree with that when used with reference to "work smart not hard".

But it just seems to me that installing over lino or installing over concrete without an anti fracture membrane is just a bigger risk. A risk I personally would not make it my own home.
Mostly because I would always be waiting for the grout to crack, or the slab to move.


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## Donedat

Shouldn't be too hard to remove the linoleum. There has to be a loose corner somewhere on the floor where you can grab hold of a pull.


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## MikesterSTLMO

747 said:


> I just seen them do it like that on hometime 5am saturday morning. I guesss they didn't do it rite.


 
Grammatical Correction:

You mean you recently SAW this task perfromed on HomeTime at 5am Sat morning and you are assuming they didn't perform it correctly.:thumbup:


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## Floorwizard

Definately SAW it because the post is way old


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## perpetual98

I put ceramic tiles over lino in a bathroom in my old condo and in the year or so that we lived there after, I didn't notice any problems. Then again, it was a condo that I knew we were going to be selling. Would I do the same thing in our house? Probably not.


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## sybarite12

MikesterSTLMO said:


> Grammatical Correction:
> 
> You mean you recently SAW this task perfromed on HomeTime at 5am Sat morning and you are assuming they didn't perform it correctly.:thumbup:


 
Spelling Correction:

You mean "performed" on HomeTime because the other way would make you appear ignorant and rude.


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## Brayden 76

On the contrary, IF the Linoelum is SECURELY down on the cement or wood. You can tile right over it. Go to the depot or Lowes and get the tile Bonding agent/adhesive. You mix the thinset with that INSTEAD of water. It sticks to anything. You can tile right over existing ceramic, wood, concrete, linoelum etc.


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## bvw

*Tips for redoing lino floor*

We wanted to go over the sticky tiles in our kitchen because somehow they shifted prior to us moving in; maybe shoddy install by the previous home owner. We decided not to fill in the cracks and lay the new lino directly over the old. We found that to remove the sticky tiles we needed to razor cut around them through the original lino. This helped get down to the underlayment. However the old lino backing was paper and separated at various thickness; it was like a cereal box material. After trying to scrape the paper off, in an effort save teh underlayment, we gave up. The old underlayment came up easily after chiseling through the 1/4 inch and then used a pry bar to pop it up some more. After that the 3.5 foot crowbar was great at removing the rest of the underment. We should have used some type of seam filler between the new underlayment because we can see where the seams are. Its better than it was, but hopefully someone out there reads this and learns this lesson the easy way. Take all the helpful tips suggested and dont skip steps, it could mean having it look great great instead of just better. I guess this is part of gaining experience as a DIYer.


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## chrisBC

If you want lino to come up really easily, use a heat gun. Hold the heat on it for a sec, the glue will loosen and it's pretty easy.

Personally I wouldn't tile over lino, may as well put in a bit of extra effort and know exactly what it's going over. Lino over lino, on the over hand, can be fine, if the original lino is still well adhered, IMO


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