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Should we remove vinyl floor before laying the tile?

16 years ago

I have a handyman to estimate laying tile in our kitchen, bathroom and laundry room. We have wood subfloor (3/4" plywood). We have vinyl sheet in these 3 rooms. He said he won't need to remove the vinyl sheet. He will put thinset on the vinyl, lay the hardibacker board and screw down the hardbacker board into the subfloor. Then he will lay the tile onto the hardibacker board and so on. He said with the thinset between the vinyl and hardbacker board with screws into the subfloor, it is very solid that the tile will not "move". Is this acceptable not to remove the vinyl before putting the hardibacker board?

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oruboris
16 years ago
I'm not sure: for some reason, bill and mongo-- our unofficial tile gurus-- rarely visit the flooring forum, and be found most on the bath forum, you might want to try there.

I don't blame the handyman-- removing vinyl is a nightmare. But I'm also not sure that his method is sound. It seems to me a cushioned vinyl could still cause enough flex, if you stepped right between screws, for instance, that it could be an issue.

You might want to try this question on a tile specific forum...
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