I do not have Luxury Vinyl Tile, but I have looked into it. Some people have complained about it being loud when placed over ceramic tile. The question was asked whether an underlayment (such as is used for laminate flooring) would help. Some people say you can't lay LVT over tile, PERIOD, but Home Depot has some lock-together LVT that is listed for laying over a tile subfloor. In addition to the snap-together type, other LVT is self-stick and some requires a mastic glue down, so make sure which type you are buying.

HERE is a site with a lot of info on this product with pros and cons, tips, info on specific manufacturers, and links to other sites with more information. Here is ANOTHER LINK with similar info.

This is the same as the “paint with primer” idiocy. Marketing BS for lazy people. If you want a good job that will last, there are never any shortcuts to doing the correct prep job correctly, no matter the prep task.

Rrmove th existing floor, then examine and remediate the subfloor.

I agree it sounds like a lazy mans way of doing something without much thought. For instance if you lay this in your kitchen it will raise the floor level just enough to not be able to get your DW out for service or replacement and if you go under the DW it won’t fit. Do the job right and remove the tile make sure the sub floor is level and smooth then install whatever you want. It could also be that every door in the house will have to be shortened.

to mindshift

thanks for the informative reply..I'll check out the links but I am not considering LVT. I am considering LVP(looks like wood) and putting it on top of my tiled floors.

Thanks. :)

to Patricia Colwell Consulting

That's good information. Thank you. I will check into that.

This is from the LVP site. "If you are laying Allure LVP over existing ceramic tile, or a floor with an embossing or grout line, you should skim coat the grout lines with a floor leveler." It doesn't say it needs any of the poly underlayment but does say that the poly underlayment may help with noise reduction. It states the LVP is only 1/8 inch thick which wouldn't add much additional height to your floor if you don't use the underlayment cushion. Hopefully, someone who has used the product over tile will be able to comment.

When our basement was damaged by a clogged pipe and sent water up through the laundry standpipe, they removed the LVP we'd had installed right before we moved in and discovered not just the vinyl put in by the previous owner, but large format tile underneath THAT (don't ask me why the installers thought that it was no big deal to just leave two layers of older flooring and install our new LVP on top of it - I honestly couldn't tell you what they were thinking!) and removing that layer of tile had to be done, required a lot of elbow grease to get it all up from the concrete subfloor and smooth as necessary for installing our chosen flooring. Anyone who will be using LVP needs to know that their floor MUST be level or they're inviting all sorts of problems down the road.

But discovering the two other layers of flooring certainly explained why there was a height difference between the laundry machine closet area and the basement/hallways around it.

"Telegraphing", reminds me of a product that was new in the 80's. A sort of pour on epoxy that was self leveling and crazy durable once cured. My MIL thought it would cure her 200 year old farmhouse flooring issues in her kitchen. She evidently had a laminate flooring before I met them. The pattern stamped into the laminate telegraphed through the epoxy. She was mortified but STUCK. Live and learn. We love our LVP. The people who are pushing for real wood, well that is a different discussion than installation. Both have their positives and usefulness. First decide what you really want in the end, then as suggested install it properly. You will be glad you did!!

to arcy_gw

you stated: "First decide what you really want in the end, then as suggested install it properly."....

I want LVP and I think it would be Coretec after reading and researching...however they say it can be installed over a tile floor. So....is it considered, "properly" by following manufacturers guidelines and having a professional install it? Or are you against it all together if the floor is tiled?

Thank You

Are you going to have height problems if you install the luxury vinyl over the tile? When we were looking for a house for our daughter, we toured a flip where someone had done this over at least one layer of tile. We would have had to take up the vinyl to replace or repair the dishwasher. We did not buy that house.

CoreTec is RIGID and THICK. This isn't an 1/8" thick floor. It is 1/2" or more. And it STILL REQUIRES 'flat'. Which again means some grinding. And if you have big grout lines you STILL need to "fill them". If you go over the tile with CoreTec you STILL HAVE TO grind/fill = $2-$3/sf.

The newer version of CoreTec has an integrated underlayment = NOT ALLOWED to have underlayment used in addition to the plank. Again, you need flat and LEVEL. Terracotta tiles are RARELY level and are NEVER flat. There is no way around this (there is...it's called inappropriate installation = voided warranty and a floor that is boucing/moving/cracking that needs replacement inside of 8 years or less). And then we are back to square one: remove the tile and try again.

You still need to pay for those tiles to be "dealt with". And CoreTec will require door jams and trim to be reassessed. Guaranteed. By the time it is all done, it would have been cheaper (and faster with less headache/tears) to have jacked out the tiles in the first place.

If you cannot afford the remove the tile, then I suggest you wait a few more months to save up for that part of the renovation. Again, I would budget $2-$4/sf for removal of "real" terracotta. The faux porcelain tile is cheaper to remove....but still should be done.

To:
SJ McCarthy

Great and informative information. i really appreciate your write up, providing your obvious knowledge on this subject.

Thanks a bunch!!!

What did you do? Luxury vinyl is coming a long way now and it is not this thin flexible material anymore. We are doing today the same thing- placing rigid vinyl planks over tile in a small bathroom. We will change the baseboard too and it will look 100% better. Is it just me but I hate quarter round. Unless you already have expensive nice wood baseboard I personally hate this qtr round on top.

@Simona Stafano HI did you end up doing the plank over tile? How does it look? We are on the fence for the kitchen.. Thanks!

Yes , we did vynil planks over tiles. We chose rigid vinyl planks with underlayment already attached to the planks from Costco and we did it, no complaints at all! It looks way better than the gray tiles we had. If it is for the kitchen, I would check to see how much higher will go for the baseboard trim on the kitchen cabinets.