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Laying Wood Flooring Over Tile
By: Danny Lipford 
We are thinking about replacing our tile floor in the kitchen with hardwood. The tile is laid in a concrete foundation and would be huge mess to rip up. Is it possible to lay hardwood over an existing tile floor? If so, what do you recommend? -Donna
Hi Donna,
Yes, you can lay a wood floor over tile if the existing floor is in good shape and without cracks. I would suggest 3/8” thick, prefinished engineered hardwood flooring or easy to install laminate flooring. Some brands can be installed as a floating floor that locks together and is not attached to the tile, or you can glue it down.
Check to be sure the existing floor is flat first and fill in any low spots with leveling compound. If the wood floor is being glued to a slick tile surface, rough the tiles up a bit by sanding them to allow the adhesive to adhere better.
Good luck with your project,
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28 Comments on “Laying Wood Flooring Over Tile”
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December 11th, 2008 at 10:01 am
Hi Danny,
My Kitchen currently has a vinyl floor which is glued down pretty good….I tried getting some of it up under the dishwasher area….Tough. Can I simply sand the existing Vinyl floor, make sure it is level and apply my engineered hardwood over top? My strips of EHW are aprox. 8 inches wide. Do I use glue, nails or both?? – Patricia
December 27th, 2008 at 11:06 pm
My kitchen and dining room is exposed aggregate flooring and want to know if I can lay wood laminate flooring right on top? Also, we’ve tried using a do-it-ourselves steam cleaning on the aggregate and it just never looks clean. Any suggestionss?
January 8th, 2009 at 5:01 pm
Hi, question, I want to put down red maple hardwood floor in my bathroom. Are there any special precautions if the house tends to be very humid and the bathroom in question is in the center of the house and does not have a an outside wall. There is very good ventilation though.
Thx.
Ben Erickson Says:January 9th, 2009 at 9:38 am
Hi Becky,
Personally I wouldn’t put hardwood on a bathroom floor due to the potential of water and humidity causing long term problems with the finish and possibly causing the wood to swell. Tile or vinyl would be my choice. If you do try it, be sure you have a good bath vent fan and use it whenever you shower or bathe.
February 10th, 2009 at 3:07 pm
Danny,
For putting hardwood over tile,you suggested using a 3/8″ thickness for the wood. Is there any reason that a 5/16″ x 2 1/4″ wouldn’t work or would that be ok, too. For a 3/8″ thickness the width would be 3″. The wood will be going in the hall and entry. Also, our kitchen has the 5/16″ and it would be nice to have consistency.
Thanks,
Jim
Thanks.
Jim
Ben Erickson Says:February 11th, 2009 at 8:35 am
Jim,
5/16″ x 3″ engineered flooring should work fine.
February 23rd, 2009 at 5:29 pm
Can I lay 6 wideplank pine board over 12 x 12 ceramic tiles- Existing tiles are in good conditon, level and the area is about 800 sq ft – I do not want to rip them and height or transitions are not an issue- Would you lay a sub floor first or nail into grout lines?
February 23rd, 2009 at 5:31 pm
Sorry – I didnt specify- above 6″ wide pine or wideplank hardwood
March 19th, 2009 at 9:45 pm
have outdoor tile deck (slippery when wet)that is being enlarged. Want to put 1/2 marine plywood on top of the tile, and then seal with epoxy type finish w/sand coat. Question: If i rough up the tile surface can i glue the plywood down…and will it withstand Palm Springs temperatures?
July 25th, 2009 at 1:02 pm
Danny,
I have tile in all my bedrooms in the new house I bought, in know laying a hardwood floor over it will heighten the floor considerably what about a vinyl that looks like would would that be difficult or raise the floor alot?
Thanks Melanie
October 8th, 2009 at 6:10 pm
Our house was built in 1969-70 with tile floors glued to the foundation. Carpet was added later. When the carpet was removed recently some of the tiles cracked when the nails and wood that held the carpet down were pulled up. We have noticed that some of the tile squares are no longer glued down in various places but a majority of the tiles are secure. We plan to install floating hardwood floors through out the house and do not plan to take up the existing tile floor. What do we need to do to prepare the tile floor for the wood flooring?
Ben Erickson Says:October 9th, 2009 at 7:49 am
Hi Dixie,
Your existing floor needs to be smooth and well attached, with no low or high spots. Start by removing any tiles that are loose and either glue them back down using thin-set or fill the void with floor patch. For more on preparing your existing floor or subfloor for a new one, check out our video on How to Level a Subfloor.
October 27th, 2009 at 10:21 am
DANNY , WE LIVE IN A OLDER MODEL DOUBLE WIDE AND THE DINNING ROOM HAS 4X4 PLASTIC TILES ON FLOOR. CAN WE PUT THOSE HARDWARE BOARDS THAT YOU BUY I BOXES OVER THAT AND WOULD IT BE A HARD JOB. THANK YOU BONNIE
July 3rd, 2010 at 5:21 pm
Recently bought a 1950′s house with carpet over vinyl floor over hardwood floor. We want to remove carpet and vinyl to expose the original hardwood. What is the best way to remove the vinyl and prepare the floors for refinishing?
October 19th, 2010 at 2:53 pm
[...] Laying Wood Flooring Over Tile | Danny Lipford [...]
November 3rd, 2010 at 10:56 am
Danny
We live in a small rustic log cabin, The floors are part tile, wood and backer board and all level, we want to lay 4′x8′ sheets of knotty pine plywood down as our finished floors and stain them. what can we use to make sure our new floors stick to the existing tiles without problems?
Thank you
January 11th, 2011 at 3:02 pm
I have a beautiful hardwood entry way and hall that butts up to my open kitchen floor. The kitchen floor is white ceramic with white grout. Can I lay wood flooring to match the hallway directly over the tile and use a thin wood strip between the two to compensate for the difference in height of the kitchen floor?
January 14th, 2011 at 2:38 am
Hi Danny, I recently bought a house which is all tiled but I would like to carpet the upstairs. Will I have to pickup the tile first? If not are there any key points I should adhere to? My main concern is damaging the tile or having the tile print through with wear. Thanks
January 28th, 2011 at 7:34 pm
Hi Dan,I recently pulled up carpet in my livingroom to expose a hardwood floor. My problem is the floor is not completely hardwood, plywood patches. My question is can I put a hardwood floor over a hardwood/plywood floor. Thanks
Ben Erickson Says:January 29th, 2011 at 10:07 am
Hi Sam,
If the subfloor/hardwood floor is level, flat, and well attached, I don’t see why you couldn’t put another layer of hardwood flooring over it, but you might want to check with the company that makes the flooring first to be sure. Good luck with your project!
February 3rd, 2011 at 4:43 pm
We recently built a new home and put tile in our entry, hall, kitchen and dining. I would love wood floors in those areas but it will butt up to carpet. Can I still do this and what would I do next to the carpet so that the wood floors aren’t taller than the carpet?
February 7th, 2011 at 10:10 am
I have a 3 year old house with tile floors except in bedrooms which have carpet. I have had to replace tiles in several areas because when you walk on them they make a crunchy sound. It sounds like they weren’t sealed properly. Now I am having the same problem in a number of areas. Would floating floors work over the tile? The flooring is level and no grout has come loose. Looking at the floor it looks great until you walk over it and then the crunchy sound is evident.What would you suggest? Thanks in advance. Henry Thornton.
March 18th, 2011 at 4:17 am
Hi,
we are moving into our new house and the livingroom, hall and Kitchen are all tiled with the same tile, and all run smooth. We want to put a laminate wooden floor in the livingroom (preferably over the existing tiles) but we are worried about this being raised therefore being higher in level than the hall and kitchen. Is there something you can do to fix this problem??
Thanks
Natalie
May 23rd, 2011 at 12:03 pm
I removed tile from my shed floor and plan to lay OSB over the existing floor and paint it, how thick should the OSB be?
Thanks,
May 27th, 2011 at 6:10 am
Hi my question is, I want to put over my ceramic floor wooden tiles, but I dont know how much glue should i use and what kind if you have any recommendations, thanks!
June 26th, 2011 at 11:50 pm
Hi Danny,
I am closing on a house in the next few weeks and there is ugly tile just about everywhere in the home. I am hoping that my wife and I will be there for about 5 years then turn it into a rental while we upgrade to a larger home.
I would like hardwood floors in the home but if it becomes a rental, the tile would be more resilient so don’t want to destroy it. My thought would be to build a floating hardwood floor over the tile. I would get my 5 years of pleasure and if the renters destroyed it afterward, I could just rip it up and already have a tile floor.
The problem is the grout lines not being level with the tile. So my question is: Could I contact cement luan sheets over the tile, place the recommended foam underlayment on the Luan and float hardwood over the foam covered luan?
Do you have any other suggestions for keeping a usable tile floor under hardwood?
October 22nd, 2011 at 12:06 am
Hello Ben, We are in the middle of buying a house that has tiles. We are going to install laminate flooring over the tile. My question is can radiant heating be placed between the tile and laminate flooring? Thanks.
January 18th, 2012 at 9:05 am
Sam, MY house has some cracks in the ceramic tile. We have replaced them and the crack came back. My question is can i put wood over the tile and if i put (red gaurd) anti francture membrane down on the crack before the wood will it be ok?
thanks for your help
wade