Ugly Tile Floor

I live in a split-level house. One of the levels has a really ugly tile floor. Here it is. If it's not obvious it's light blue. I don't own anything blue. I don't like blue, and I'd like to do something with this floor.

uglyfloortile.jpg

The space it covers is an odd shape, but it's roughly 350 ft2 in total. It's a part of the house that doesn't have a basement so the tile is set on a concrete slab. And the tile is in good shape. No cracks or obvious wear. This is a high traffic area--dirty high traffic. There's a door going to the outside, and a door going to the garage, then steps upstairs and steps downstairs.

If I understand correctly, it's not easy to remove tile that's set directly onto the slab. I don't think changing the height of the floor will be a problem, because you already have to step down to go outside, go downstairs, and into the garage, and step up to go upstairs. I don't want vinyl because of the VOC's and I don't want carpet because of the dirt and high traffic.

So what's your opinion about the easiest, least expensive options? Can you tile over tile? Engineered wood? Real wood floor? Anything else?

Thanks for any and all replies. :)
 
This is the easiest one I know of: Allure flooring from Home Depot.

It fails your "not vinyl" comment -- at least I think it does. It's flexible, but I honestly don't know what it is made of.

But it was REAL EASY to install. Comes in several patterns, and you just lay it right overtop of the existing floor.

I put it in my kitchen, rather than go through the hassle of ripping out vinyl + underlay.
 
I've removed poorly set tile from a concrete slab before.

Getting the tile up is easy, getting the old thinset can be a pain, but it honestly wasn't that bad.

Having put down some laminate flooring, I can say that that isn't a bad way to go either. At least I think you can lay that down directly over tile. You'd need whatever kind of padding goes under it. Our laminate had the padding layer already attached to each strip
 
I've removed poorly set tile from a concrete slab before.

Getting the tile up is easy, getting the old thinset can be a pain, but it honestly wasn't that bad.

Having put down some laminate flooring, I can say that that isn't a bad way to go either. At least I think you can lay that down directly over tile. You'd need whatever kind of padding goes under it. Our laminate had the padding layer already attached to each strip

BTDT, and what Brent says is right on.

I'd be a bit apprehensive about using the Allure that Art recommended, though. It's more flexible, and may eventually settle into the grout joints, allowing them to 'telegraph' thru.
 
BTDT, and what Brent says is right on.

I'd be a bit apprehensive about using the Allure that Art recommended, though. It's more flexible, and may eventually settle into the grout joints, allowing them to 'telegraph' thru.

"Allure" is a floating vinyl floor, simple to install and wears well. It need to be installed over a smooth surface so if you choose to install it over tile, you'll need to fill the gout joints with a leveling compound to prevent them telegraphing thru!

Laminate over tile, with the proper pad, would be my choice.
 
A good contractor would tell you to take it up & remove grout then install a floor of your preference.

There is the right way the wrong way & the lazy way, take your choice.

It's kinda like buying quality the first time & having no regrets. Or buying oh I can get by with this & then buying again later to get quality.

(place old wet blanket here)
 
A good contractor would tell you to take it up & remove grout then install a floor of your preference.

This brought up a thought. I've replaced broken tiles at work. When there is moisture under them (like a floor you have wet down, and haven't mopped up), they start to separate from the thinset underneath them, and you can hear a hollow sound by dropping a quarter on them. Once separated, they break easily.
Also if you grind/cut the grout out away from the tile, then the first one is a bear, but after that, they tend to pop up.
The thinset can be scrapped up, or if going with a different tile, a heavier coat overlayed. (the right or lazy ways)
 
And the tile is in good shape. No cracks or obvious wear. This is a high traffic area--dirty high traffic.

So what's your opinion about the easiest, least expensive options?

Um, start liking blue? ;)

Seriously, you're talking about a lot of work, and about going with an option that's nowhere near as good for the purpose as what's already there. It would be counter-productive to replace that tile with anything less than tile.

It's not all that hard to rip up the old stuff. One day, max. And maybe you can improve on the install, for example with a high quality underlayment.

So, one day to rip out what's there. Another day of prepping the floor. A day to lay the new tile. Count another for shopping, and one for disposing of construction debris. So you're looking at probably 5 days of work and a thousand bucks. And the end result? A different color of tile. ;)

Like I said, are you sure you don't like blue? ;)

Thanks,

Bill
 
If the tile is absolutely solidly attached to the cement then you can go over it with just about anything. Remember that the additional height of new flooring over the tile will throw off the step height for any stairs going up or down from that surface.

Unless it is very thick a vinyl sheet product will have the grout lines telegraph through from the tile sooner or later. You can float over the tile with a leveler if needed.

If there are stairs going up/down from the tile area I would rent one of these guys and take it all out.

1-PT-12269.jpg


Installing a good floor product correctly is always worth the time, work and money in the long run.

Cheers,
 
It will also change things at the door thresholds.

You'll probably need to trim the bottom of the doors.Then what if you change things again later? Replace the doors? What about re-sale value?
The best thing start adoring blue or 2nd best thing take the tile out & do a proper job from the floor up. Sometimes the old fashioned way is the best way.
 
What about some sort of epoxy, like the garage stuff with flakes but without the flakes, over the top? would that even work?:huh:
 
My non-professional opinion is to always rip up the old stuff. Otherwise 100 years in the future, there can be no one over 5' owning a previous DIY owner's home :rofl::rofl::rofl:

I'm serious here...do it right, the first time, no matter how much extra work it takes :thumb::thumb::thumb:

And that's the way she makes me do the work...

But she really did a great job pulling up all of the old staples for the carpet we had replaced.... :thumb:
 
Here are a couple of other photos. The door to the backyard and the door to the garage. You can see that there's about 1 inch up to the top of the threshold, so the floor height is not an issue. I'm not sure this was the right way to do it originally. The previous owner did everything himself, for better and for worse. :rolleyes:

door to patio.jpg

door to garage.jpg

I find it interesting that everyone here says to pull up the tile and not to tile over tile, but on the web I found several references to doing just that saying it was okay to do it once if the bottom tile is in perfect shape, and on a slab, and height was not an issue like here and here, for example.

But I'm just in the information gathering stage. ;) and I'm interested to hear what everyone has to say.

And no I can not learn to like blue. :rofl: Unfortunately the whole house is pink and blue :bang: so little by little, room by room, I'm going to change the pink and blue floor in the kitchen, pink bathroom etc. etc. etc.
 
Doorlink hated the pink tile in the bathroom. And the pink bathtub.

I said: let's just rip it all out, and start over. :thumb:

She said: No, I have another idea. :doh:

So she got some kind of white enamel, and redid it. Presto. Problem solved.

Well, not quite. She had to don enough chemical protection that she looked like a giant Doorlink-bug. And the house reeked for three days.

But it *did* work. Wouldn't work for a floor, but it works on tubs and wall tiles.

Thanks,

Bill
 
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