Hey, I want to renovate my living room without removing the 90s tiles. I've seen tons of videos about click vinyl (like Tarkett or Quick-Step), but I don't know if I can lay it directly on the old tiles or if I need to do something first.
No no, you can't just lay click vinyl directly on tile, it'll shift around everywhere and come off super quick. You gotta put down a leveling underlayment or thin plywood first to even it out, otherwise you'll end up with dips that'll crack your planks after a few months - I've seen botched jobs like that, it's really a pain to redo.
You've got to prep the tiles first, that's the basics. What I do is start with a good vacuum and degreaser on the grout joints (vinyl doesn't stick well to dirt), then I apply a thin self-leveling underlayment like Mapei or Ardex, that fills in the gaps and levels everything out. The thing nobody tells you: put a thin polyethylene film between the tiles and the underlayment if you're in a humid area, otherwise the moisture from the tiles is gonna make your click vinyl warp in a few months. Once it's dry (wait at least 24 hours), then you can click your vinyl down without any worries.
You're right that you need to prep the surface, but watch out for something a lot of people forget: old tile can be super slippery and uneven, so even with a primer you risk getting cracks down the line if you just slap leveling compound on top without properly cleaning and priming first. I had a rough time on a job once where the guy didn't remove the dust and wax residue - the leveling compound didn't hold. The best approach is to really vacuum and wash the tile, then put down a proper bonding primer, and only after that do you apply your leveling compound if there are holes or bumps that are too big. If the tile is really old and unstable, you could also use thin plywood glued down, but honestly doing the leveling compound properly is less complicated and takes up less space.
Do you have really flat tiles or are the grout lines sticking out quite a bit? That's the real question before you get started. I tried putting it directly on some old smooth tiles at my mum's place last year, and honestly it held up for a few months before the clicks started making noise and the planks started lifting in places. What saved me was that she agreed to let me put down a self-leveling underlayment (like Ardex or Ceresit) to smooth everything out - it's not complicated to lay, you just leave it to set for 24-48 hours before putting the vinyl down. If your tiles are really even and without big bulging grout lines, maybe a thin isolation underlayment like cork or foam would work, but honestly the self-leveling compound is safer and doesn't cost a fortune in 2026.
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