Tile over tile?

[LisaK]

Hi,

I have a ceramic tile kitchen floor that I want to upgrade and have a different color of tile. The original tile installation was well done-solid, no cracks, level, just a few chips in the tile, as it was ceramic, not a porcelain ceramic.

Can a new tile floor be installed on top of the old tile floor, without the contractor having to tear out the old tile?

I understand that it will create a height difference in the flooring in the adjoining rooms, etc. I just want to know if it can be done and what, if any problems may occur?

Thanks,
Lisa

[Davestone]

It can be done with scarifying the face of the tile and using modified thinset.

[claycarson]

Ditto.

The 'scarifying' part is the trick. Sandpaper won't cut it.

Need to use diamond blade or masonry wheel on a grinder or something similarly aggressive to cut the glaze off the top of the base floor. Dust??? Ah, well, mmmm....maybe there is a bit of dust, I guess

Cutting ceramic tile glaze is not easy.

But it may be less labor than removing the floor, rebuilding the subfloor and adding underlayments.