The hardwood shouldn't be a problem. The tile is going to cause issues - assuming you are referring to porclain/ceramic tile. If this is vinyl tile then you should be fine.

Of course you MUST HAVE a flat floor. Like FLAT. Smooth. Free of GROUT LINES. The floor height variance is traditionally 3/16" over 10 feet (3mm over 3 meters). Without knowing your flatness ratio, it is going to be near impossible to tell you if this is a good idea.

Regardless of the overall floor flatness, you will need to deal with grout lines. I am fully aware that CoreTec states it can go over ANY SOLID FLOORING. In fact they ADVERTISE this fact. I get it. It SOUNDS great...until you read the fine print (see flatness rating above). Porcelain tiles are RARELY flat. And they are NEVER smooth. That means you have to GET THEM that way. But how, you ask?

Easy. Your professional will grind then down a bit (yep...sanding), then prime them (because the surface is often too slick to grab SLC) and then coat them in Self Leveling Compound (SLC) or feathering compound. Whew. Now that the tiles are covered in cementatious material (never to be salvaged), you can put down the CoreTec.

And to be clear, the cost to jack out the tiles will be very close to coating the tiles in cement. And once the tile is gone, you do NOT have to worry about counter top heights, dishwasher clearance, refridgerator clearance (if it is built in) or stove-top height (compared to the counters). Not to mention door heights and baseboard trim. If you have to deal with any/all of these problems, you will find the costs could be more than TRIPLE the cost of removing the tile.

Whew. That's a lot to worry about just to save a couple of bucks on tile removal. Assuming that the wood floor is relatively flat and smooth (it fits the flatness requirements for the CoreTec), I would jack out the tile and lay a thin layer of plywood or luan. This will get the two floors VERY close to the same height. Where the kitchen floor meets the wood area, I would drop in a transition piece (usually through a doorway) and be done with it.

If you insist on a perfectly flat floor without transitions, then you either have to rip out ALL the flooring, or deal with floor heights that could be so high that you need to trim and rehang all of your doors.

In addition to all of the above, (which I agree with 100%), you need at least 1/4" expansion spacing for Coretec around the edges so you'll a quarter round or shoe moulding to cover that. So you'll either be adding that, which usually doesn't look that great or redoing all your baseboards anyway. I was recently quoted $2 a square foot for glued hardwood removal in PHX area. I think that's a much better way to go.

Thank you for the responses, door clearance was not something I considered but will talk with my contractor about. We are doing new baseboards so that won’t be an issue. Kitchen cabinet and appliance clearance should be okay too, given all those are being replaced too in the reno. Thank you for the input, looks like possibly doing a skim coat to even out grout lines might be a solution.

tamaradixon:

You didn't say what type of building you have. I had a GC buddy that gouged through a structural floor in a condo demolishing saltillo tile. Could have been a catastrophy, instead the demolition was a huge waste of money, time, and tile. If you can cost effectively avoid it, do so please.

Our home is on a slab foundation and the tile and wood both are installed directly on the slab.