Deborah Butler, Brickwood Builders Can you? Yes. Should you? We don't think so. We tear out and start over. If you are replacing now is the time to make sure that the substrate is in good shape and correct any issues. People also end up disliking the variance in floor heights.
Wallmark Homes Covering over things always seems to lead to more problems in the future. It is easier and cheaper to remove the old tiles first and fix anything that could cause a problem now than it is once you have added more on top.
Bubbles Bathrooms Well the short answer is yes however you need to consider the following:
1. How well are the old tiles adhered to the substrate? and how well is the substrate fixed to the structure?
If you don't know the answer to these questions you would be better to strip it all back, straighten the structure and build on a solid foundation if you want it to last or the finished job will only be as good as the weakest point.
2. Make sure the adhesive is appropriate for this application (you are putting a lot of trust in the product so choose well)
Personally at Bubbles Bathrooms we very, very rarely employ this practice but renovating is essentially, a continuous problem solving process so unless you are prepared to bend the rules and or think outside the box the process can be confronting.
3. Don't do it on the walls!
curacaoblue They did that in an apt I used to rent. It was done around 10 yrs before we moved in. Well one day we get a knock on the door telling us that part of the ceiling in the bathroom of the apt below us has collapsed. No one can figure out how all the water damage was done when our bathroom is clearly not flooded. They start pulling up our floor and find another one under it....rotting....it smelled unreal. This is what i was told: water slowly collected over years between the two floors, mold grew, and the ceiling below us softened and started to lose integrity until one day part of the ceiling detached and collapsed. Personally I always thought there would have been signs on the ceiling below but I never saw that apt. Mine looked fine, just old. Took 2 weeks working round the clock to fix it as they were trying to save the floor and we moved out immediately....never know what else was hiding there or if what we were told was even fullyo accurate.
The answer would be YES, if you would live in Germany but is unfortunately NO when you live in North America! In Germany it is a common practice to tile over existing tiles. It saves the Homeowner a lot of money and time and it last forever when the work was properly performed!
Here in North America I have not seen one single floor and also no wall which could be over tiled! Sooner or later you would definitely run into problems.
Her are some pictures from a bathroom renovation which I did long ago in Germany. This Bathroom is still in the same condition like it was after re tiling. As long as you do it properly by using the appropriate materials there is no problem at all to tile over exiting tiles!
JUAN DAVILA gladys i say yes you can i did it over my rebuild dinning room an living room what you should do is just map the floor to get all the shine out of the old one clean it good let me show you my tile i put over the old one its been on now more then 6 years
1. How well are the old tiles adhered to the substrate? and how well is the substrate fixed to the structure?
If you don't know the answer to these questions you would be better to strip it all back, straighten the structure and build on a solid foundation if you want it to last or the finished job will only be as good as the weakest point.
2. Make sure the adhesive is appropriate for this application (you are putting a lot of trust in the product so choose well)
Personally at Bubbles Bathrooms we very, very rarely employ this practice but renovating is essentially, a continuous problem solving process so unless you are prepared to bend the rules and or think outside the box the process can be confronting.
3. Don't do it on the walls!
The answer would be YES, if you would live in Germany but is unfortunately NO when you live in North America! In Germany it is a common practice to tile over existing tiles. It saves the Homeowner a lot of money and time and it last forever when the work was properly performed!
Here in North America I have not seen one single floor and also no wall which could be over tiled! Sooner or later you would definitely run into problems.
Her are some pictures from a bathroom renovation which I did long ago in Germany. This Bathroom is still in the same condition like it was after re tiling. As long as you do it properly by using the appropriate materials there is no problem at all to tile over exiting tiles!
► Bathroom Remodeling in 1998 - Tiling over Existing Tiles - Location Germany
► Project: Bathroom Remodeling in 1998 - Tiling over Existing Tiles - Location Germany
Kind regards,
3D-Tile-Design - Bertram Tasch
Maple Ridge, BC (Greater Vancouver)
http://www.3D-Tile-Design.ca
should it be done? no