installing schluter ditra over vinyl tile over basement concrete

7 years ago

hi all,

i've been reading forums all over the interwebs about this topic and can't come to a conclusion.

we removed our carpet in our basement and want to install ceramic tile.

the ugly green tiles you see below are present over the carpet - and they're laid directly on top of the concrete basement floor. the house was built in 1988 and the tile should be from around that timeframe - so no issue with asbestos. the tile seems to be glued down quite well - not perimeter bonded but fully glued down.

my question is - should we remove the tile to put a membrane down like schluter ditra, or can we keep this tile since it is held down quite well?

i am aware of this article in schluter's faqs:

https://www.schluter.com/schluter-us/en_US/faq/ditra-ditraxl-over-vinyl-flooring

however, some folks are saying just remove the tile for peace of mind - but i can see the concrete below and it looks fine...

basically, can we rough up the vinyl surface and install the membrane over it?

also, for the small area that was removed as shown in the picture below - how can we even this out - perhaps just mortar? the tile is very thin - about 1/16"

thanks!

Featured Answer

User

7 years ago

If your tile meets Schluter’s requirements, then yes. Perhaps use self leveling compound.

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Comments (7)

geoffrey_b
7 years ago
Remove the tile.
captainsly
Original Author
7 years ago
may i get a little help on why? :) that's why i started this thread. thanks ahead of time.
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PRO
Solar Texas
7 years ago
Why are you using a pry bar on the tile? Just rent a sawzall with scraper blade or better yet a decent hammer drill with a wide scraper blade and you’ll have that vinyl up a lot faster.
You could probably lay tile over the vinyl, but now you’re relying on two layers of glue instead of just one and you’re relying on an adhesion to vinyl that was designed for adhesion to concrete or wood.
I’m sceptical it’ll work. Too many times in my past involved taking shortcuts that subsequently involved rework.
geoffrey_b
7 years ago
may i get a little help on why?

Why? Want to take a chance with $$ worth of Ditra / Thinset / Tile / Labor? If you want to take that chance - go for it.
User
7 years ago
A licensed professional would remove the vinyl due to potential for problems, substrate makes or breaks a tile job, a hack and diy might tile over it. The licensed professional offers a warranty.

If the tile is soft enough, the tile may move, causing cracks. If the leveling technique doesn’t work, there may be cracks.

I often see crowbars and sledge hammers used in dyi tv shows. FWIW, professionals seldom use those tools as shown on tv shows.
PRO
GN Builders L.L.C
7 years ago
Using ditra you can go right over it, just follow ditra guidelines and you will never have a problem especially when existing vinyl tiles installed on concrete. Keep in mind that Ditra allows dissimilar materials to act independently of each other this why the tile or grout will never crack even if there is differential movement between the subfloor and the tile.

We used ditra over asbestos tiles installed in the kitchen about 6 yrs ago over an old wood floor in a house that was built in the 20s and there was no issues then and there is no issues a year ago when I was there doing a deck repair.

Good luck