floating wood floor over tile feasible?

4 years ago

Our house has tile throughout the main level except for the master bedroom and the living room. It's mostly travertine (2 bathrooms and laundry room have different tile). I hate the noise level that comes with the tile (we have 5 boys and they are extremely loud)

and I hate all the little pits in the travertine (dirty and hard to clean). Replacing the tile is a bigger project that we’re prepared to undertake but we’ve talked about having a floating wood (laminate) floor put over the tile. I have some concerns about how feasible this is and am looking for input on them.. One--the baseboards in the tiled areas are tile. Two—the toe kicks on the cabinets are tile. Three—the edge of our stairwell is tiled. Four—not sure how it would work to have a height different between a floating floor and the rest of the house. The carpeted areas are slightly higher than the tiled areas now, but the other tiled areas (bathroom and laundry room) are level with the tile. I've attached a few photos to show what I mean.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (2)

SJ McCarthy
4 years ago
OK...a floating floor requires FLAT (no humps or bumbs or GROUT LINES at all). So that's issue #1. It's a big expensive issue. Thankfully this is stone which means a flooring professional can come in and grind off the sealant on the floor (yep...grinding...so much fun) and then fill the grout lines to get a smooth surface (the stone floor will be 'ruined' once this is done but that's OK...you didn't like it anyway).

You can then use and acoustic pad (3mm or 6mm cork) underneath the laminate (don't put laminate in the kitchen please....it won't last more than 3-7 years) to get a quieter space. It won't do much to the echo but it will do something.

Floor heights are your enemy. The carpet is sitting at (roughly) 3/4" high. That's normal for a regular carpet with a nice pad. That's the way they are designed. A stone floor or a tile floor or a hardwood floor will sit (roughly) 3/4" high as well. That's why carpet is designed to sit that high as well.

Now onto the stairs....oh dear. Code violations abound. The top step MUST BE the same height as all the other steps. Must be. No other way around it (beautiful cat BTW...the black one's always seem to think they can 'hide' just by sitting still...even on a white background...hehehe).

So that means a redesign of the stairs is going to happen. Now we get REALLY expensive. The price you save on leaving the tile in place will be the amount you SPEND on the stairs. Redesigning stairs to meet code can be THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS. A finishing carpenter is needed (there are 15+ different codes required for stairs...and finishing carpenters are the one's who know them all...and that knowledge is EXPENSIVE).

And a floating floor requires a 1/2" expansion gap at all walls. Technically quarter round or shoe mold can be glued to the travertine base molding...but it won't be pretty. So you might as well jack those moldings off. You will then need to repair the drywall and add new molding after the floor is finished.

Whew! There are so many other issues you are going to discover you have to fix (door clearance being one of many more = hundreds of dollars of trimming/painting your doors just to fit) just to save a few thousand dollars on the stone removal.

As I can see, you have two stones (black entrance stone + travertine) and bathroom tiles to deal with. Not to mention the carpets.

It sounds like you will need to have a 5 year plan just to deal with your 4+ different floors. And the stairs....oh dear the stairs.

Technically you can save a few thousand for the stone removal...but you will probably spend that and more just to get the stairs up to code. As soon as you touch the stairs you have to bring them up to TODAY'S code. They can no longer be 'grandfathered' due to the age of the house.

Please save for another few years so that you can remove ALL the flooring to do it all at once. Yes stone is a PITA to remove (can be $3-$4/sf to remove) but once it is gone it is gone. You never have to deal with it ever again.

Going over top of the stone does not fix the problem = stone flooring. Every time you want to do something you will have to factor in the stone that is left in place. And you would have to pay for the 'stair' renovation each time you try to change flooring.

It's your call. I would not float a floor over stone...not with stairs involved.
chiflipper
4 years ago
No, just no. For the noise, get some rugs, or have carpeting seamed and edge-bound to make a room-sized rug. Tell the boys that Mom cannot guarantee they will live to maturity if they can't "Keep It Down"!
Related Discussions
Do I Need Another Surface to Lay Down Tile Over Wood Floor?
Q
Comments (2)
You need a minimum 1" of subfloor under tile. You cannot tile over the adhesive for a number of reasons. The adhesive needs to be as even as you can get it. Spaces(unevenness) create bounce and bounce will kill a ceramic tile floor. Adhesive is probably asphalt based. Older tile was a combination of vinyl and asbestos. You do not want to start banging, sanding or causing dust from this product. Pull up the sheet vinyl and screw and glue down a layer of 5/8" plywood. On top of that I would put a cement backer product(1/2 or 1/4") that was thinsetted and nailed /screwed down. If floor is level, you can tile. If not, level the floor. Ron
...See More
How to attach stone saddle between tile and floating wood floor?
Q
Comments (1)
You can get the matching caulk (sanded or unsanded).
...See More
Can you float engineered wood over existing floors?
Q
Comments (2)
You can float over anything really. Biggest issue is addressing any humps or depressions on the current floor. You wood floor now is essentially a sub floor. Wide plank pine? Is your house about 100yrs old? Check with the mill of the product whether or not that particular product can be nailed? Most can but there are some that dont recommend it. It should say either on the box, inside on the warranty booklet or online.
...See More
Sellers Put Tile Like Flooring Over Wood Floors - Removable???
Q
Comments (1)
Depending on what type of prep work was done on the old wood floor before the new flooring was applied it may not be hard to get up. If the top flooring was glued to the wood it can be removed, but you need to be careful to not damage the wood floor underneath excessively. If a layer of plywood was nailed down before the present floor was installed, the damage can be severe enough to make refinishing the old floor not very effective. Even if they are filled, the nail holes can still show. There may be no real way to tell until you start tearing things up. Sometimes you can remove some quarter round or door sills to see the stack up of the floor.
...See More