Installing Over Tile

Q: Is there a floor that can be install over ceramic tile? Vinyl or wood..has this been done where you can put a floor leveler on ceramic fill the grout lines even, install vinyl over it.
Thanks
Bob
A: There are a few floors that can be installed over ceramic tile, but there are a few things you need to make sure you do first.
The critical key to making this type of work successful is prepping the tile to become an effective subfloor. First ensure that all tiles are in good condition and none are loose. Next you will want to level out the grout line areas as best as possible. If you intend to put leveling compound over the top of the tile surface, you should lightly abrade the surface of the tile in order to make sure that the leveling compound properly adheres to the tile surface.
Once you have leveled out the floor and allowed everything to cure you can move onto installing the floor. The only key here would be to ensure you put down a moisture barrier if the original subfloor under the tile is concrete. This will make sure you have no worries of moisture vapor coming up from your concrete into the flooring installed.
Let’s talk about what types of floors you can look into. Your best bet will be any floating floor. Floating floors are a great fit for this type of install as most of them are built to be stable over concrete/hard surface subfloors. Look into engineered hardwood, laminate, engineered bamboo or click-together cork for your best flooring choices. You could also look into the vinyl floors from Konecto as their construction and installation method makes them great for this project.
Also, when looking into floor choices, keep in mind the area you plan to install this floor in. For higher moisture areas like a bathroom or kitchen, look into products more suited for this environment like cork and vinyl. For higher traffic areas like entryways and halls, look into something built to take traffic like laminate or denser species of engineered hardwood.
You could also potentially look into glue down floors, but I would honestly suggest avoiding them at all costs and going with a floating floor.