Installing Engineered Hardwood Flooring Over Tile

The planks glue together to create a floor that floats moves freely as a unit.

Installing engineered hardwood flooring over tile.

When some of the tiles are loose chipped or broken. Installing hardwood floors over tile. Installing wood flooring over an existing wood floor. Installing engineered hardwood over existing flooring is a great option for people who have hard to remove floors such as glued down hardwood or glued down vinyl.

The simplest in terms of getting the job done without messy demo work would be a floating engineered floor. What types of installations over tile. A concern with engineered flooring however is that the colors may be quite uniform within an entire box but have distinct tonal differences from one box to the next. For years the only solution to installing hardwood floors over tile was rip it out and install the wood floor.

If you were to install the floor by using all the planks from one box before opening the next you run the risk of installing the floor with large mismatched patches of flooring. This isn t to say you can install laminate over every tile floor. Wood flooring can be installed over existing ceramic tile terrazzo or marble with proper underlayment or adhesives only on manufacturer s recommendation. When installing a floor over your existing floor you will want to choose an engineered wood floor that is at least 1 2 thick and over 4 3 4 wide.

If your ceramic tile has grout lines that give it texture you will need to fill those in to make your flooring completely level. Still you may need to tile directly over an existing hardwood floor for instance to avoid raising the floor level significantly relative to an adjacent floor. I would suggest 3 8 thick prefinished engineered hardwood flooring. Wood flooring of this type would need an intervening underlayment.

Engineered flooring goes down over a thin foam sheet which provides cushioning and sound dampening. Floating floors were designed for. If so make sure the floor is solid and well sealed. Solid hardwood or engineered wood flooring may serve as bases for vinyl flooring.

Do not sand any surfaces containing lead based finishes paints or asbestos. Is it possible to lay hardwood over an existing tile floor yes you can lay a wood floor over tile if the existing floor is in good shape and without cracks. Floor tiles usually should be laid over a strong underlayment of cement board or treated plywood. One situation however does require more work and may call for removal of the tile.

If the wood is heavily gapped these gaps must first be fixed. Some conditions apply but most are easily addressed. This condition would make direct installation over the wood difficult. Donna asks we are thinking about replacing our tile floor in the kitchen.

You need to leave a 5 16 inch gap between the flooring and the baseboard or wall around the perimeter of the room to allow the floor enough space to expand.