What Do You Use Under Vinyl Tile Flooring

Installing over wood.

What do you use under vinyl tile flooring.

That sounds obvious but what it means is that you can t use products best suited for wood or laminate and expect the same results with vinyl. Peel and stick tile has come a long way since the days when it was a cheap and easy if not very attractive way to give old floors new life. However you ll want to use one in every other application including covering existing hardwood floors vinyl flooring that isn t cushioned and concrete floors. To test if your vinyl floor has been installed with full contact adhesive use a utility knife to cut a small slice at the center of the floor.

If you re laying the lvp over an existing cushion backed vinyl floor or a below grade tile floor then you won t need to use an underlayment. Vinyl planks and vinyl tiles are not wood and they re not laminate they re vinyl. The goal is to have a wooden subfloor consisting of two. Measure and cut 1 4 inch or thicker plywood with a circular saw to fit the entire floor of the room where you are installing vinyl flooring.

Install a cement based backer board following the manufacturer s instructions. This provides a solid surface under the tile that prevents flexing that could lead to cracking. In fact you generally can t use underlay products designed for wood laminate or tile. Chipboard cushioned vinyl flooring particle boards of any type oriented strand board osb interior grade plywood tongue and groove planking and hardwood floors are unsuitable substrates for direct installation of ceramic tile.

How to prepare a floor for peel stick tile. If it does not lift up it is full contact vinyl. Most peel and stick tile manufacturers will void the warranty on floors laid over unprimed concrete subfloors. Use the blade tip or sharp screwdriver to try to lift up the vinyl.

To install ceramic tile over wood the wood surface must be structurally sound enough to support the weight of the tile.