Replacing floor tiles in the home. Should I rip up the old tiles or tile over the top?
What are your options when it comes to replacing floor tiles?
Do you need to rip up your old tiles or are you considering tiling over the top of them. Can you do this? Well yes, but should you do this? That will generally depend on the condition of your existing tiles.
Considerations for replacing floor tiles:
- You need to consider the floor height. By tiling over tiles your floors may suddenly become too high for existing doors or cupboards that are in line with the old flooring.
- Ensure the floor is flat so that when you tile over your existing tiles, the floor continues to be flat. One option to ensure this is to use a suitable floor-levelling compound if tiling over existing tiles, otherwise you could end up with little steps all over your floor and an uneven finish.
- Tiling over tiles tends to be cheaper as the labour of removing old tiles isn’t required, for this reason it is also generally a faster process, as not as much cleaning up is required either!
- In order to tile over the top, the old tiles have to be in good condition. They should adhere well to the concrete underneath them, and when tapped make no hollow sounds.
- Tiling over tiles requires special adhesive to be used. New tiles that aren’t adhered properly could easily, and are likely, to crack. Adhesive may not stick to existing tiles as well as it would to a concrete slab due to numerous factors including the condition of the current tiles, and humidity.
Your tiles need to withstand a lot of foot traffic and your flooring is one of the main features of your home that you will likely not change again for many years, if ever!
It is important that tiling is done professionally and more factors need to be considered than just the cost, which is often the most appealing reason to tile over old tiles.
Consult a professional tiler such as NRA Tiling who will be able to provide you with a comprehensive range of tiling services to modify your home.
