Yes, in most cases. A rigid core hybrid plank is designed to float over a sound existing floor, tiles included, which is why so many Gold Coast renovations skip the demolition. What decides it is the state of the tiles, the grout lines and the heights, and our installation instructions are specific about all three.
Why so many renovations here start with this question
A lot of Gold Coast houses and units were built with tiles running through the kitchen, the hallway and the open-plan living area. The tiles are usually sound. They are just dated. And the quote to remove them is often the biggest, messiest line in the whole renovation: jackhammers, skip bins, dust through the house and a week of living around it. A rigid core hybrid plank is built to float, so in most of those homes the new floor can go straight over the top and the demolition never happens. That is a big part of why hybrid took over the renovation market on the coast.
What has to be true about the tiles
Our installation instructions are specific here, because this is where a floating floor over tiles either lasts for decades or goes wrong in its first summer.
- The tiles have to be stable. Cracked or drummy tiles usually mean something is wrong underneath, and the honest answer there is often to lift them and go back to the slab.
- The grout cannot be loose. Loose grout gets sorted before a single plank goes down.
- The grout lines may need filling. Where the grout depth is more than 2mm and the tiles have a bevelled rather than a rectified edge, the lines get filled with a levelling compound and left to dry. Wide, deep grout lines let the planks flex into them, and flex is what unclips a lock.
- The heights have to be evened out. Where adjoining tiles differ by more than 2mm, the high points get ground back first.
- One caveat we say out loud every time: tiles that are well stuck today are not guaranteed to stay stuck. If a tile adhesive lets go years later and takes the floor above it with it, that is not covered by the product warranty. On a tiled floor nobody is confident about, lifting it is the safer call.
Two things that are not optional
- The moisture barrier. A layer of builder’s black plastic goes down first, joins overlapped and taped, run up the walls behind the skirting. It stops the plank backing grabbing the subfloor, so the floor can move, and it slows moisture coming up through a slab. Skipping it voids the warranty.
- No extra underlay. The acoustic underlay is already bonded to the back of every Classic Collection plank. A second underlay underneath makes the floor spongy, puts the locks under strain and voids the warranty. This one catches out people who have laid laminate before.
The heights are the part people forget
Going over the tiles rather than under them means the finished floor sits higher than it did. That is usually no problem at all, and it is also the part worth thinking about before the boards arrive. Door jambs get undercut so the planks slide beneath them. The odd door needs a trim at the bottom. A transition strip finishes the join where the new floor meets tiles that are staying, at a bathroom or laundry doorway for instance. And where the floor runs into built-in cabinetry, a moulding covers the expansion gap unless the kickboards can come off and go back on over the new floor.
Expansion is the other one, and it is the thing that goes wrong most often. A floating floor has to be free to move, so there is a minimum gap right around the perimeter, hidden by the skirting. Taking the skirting off and refitting it gives a far better finish than a scotia, and a deeper skirting hides a bigger gap. On a long run, past about six metres in either direction, the floor may need an expansion joint. Cabinetry, balustrades and sliding door tracks are never fixed down on top of the floor, because they pin it in place.
When the old floor has to come up anyway
- Carpet. It cannot be floated over. It comes out first.
- An existing floating engineered timber floor. Two floating floors stacked on each other is not an installation, it is a future problem. The old one comes up.
- Anything that might contain asbestos. Older vinyl sheet and some old adhesives are worth testing before they are disturbed. If there is any doubt, send a sample away.
- Wet areas. Hybrid is water resistant from above, not from below, so it is not the floor for bathrooms, laundries or powder rooms. A residential kitchen is not classed as a wet area, so a tiled kitchen floor is fine to lay over.
Can I lay hybrid over tiles in a bathroom or laundry?
No. SPC hybrid is water resistant from above only, and water sitting underneath a floating floor causes swelling and broken locks. Bathrooms, laundries and powder rooms keep their tiles. A residential kitchen is not classed as a wet area, so a tiled kitchen is one of the best rooms for it.
Do the grout lines always have to be filled?
Not always. Tight, shallow grout lines between rectified tiles are usually left alone. Lines deeper than 2mm, or tiles with a bevelled edge, get filled with a levelling compound and left to dry first. The reason is simple: the wider the void under a plank, the more it flexes, and flex is what breaks locks.
How much higher will my floor sit?
Only by the thickness of the plank, because the acoustic underlay is already bonded to the back and nothing else goes underneath it. Ask us for the exact thickness of the colour you are looking at. In practice it means undercutting the door jambs, sometimes trimming a door, and a transition strip at any tiles that stay.
Can I do it myself?
Plenty of people do, and the full installation instructions come with every order. The parts that catch people out are the expansion gaps, the moisture barrier and the grout lines. We are supply only, so if you would rather it was done for you, ask us and we will point you at installers we recommend.
Bring a photo of the tiles
The easiest way to get a straight answer is a photo of the tiled room, with a close look at the grout lines and the doorways, brought into the Burleigh Heads showroom. We will tell you whether your floor is a lay-over job or a lift-up job, and you can stand on the Classic Collection colours in real light while you are here.