One For The Tilers

[needawin]

want to lay floor tiles over existing floor tiles in kitchen.
Have read this is possible to avoid lifting the old ones.
there is a new kitchen being installed also.
two issues. what about the height when there is a washing machine.
surely it would not fit under a standard height kitchen worktop with the added height to the floor. is an integrated machine the answer?
also it would raise the floor slightly making a slight step to the living room.
at the moment its about a 1/4 inch higher than the wooden living room floor. the new tile and adhesive will obviously make it higher again.
any solutions please

[douglas9401]

Best to change your plans and lift the old floor.

[Togo]

Seconded.^^

[Old_Geezer]

Does the washing machine allow you to adjust the height of it's legs ?
If it's a new kitchen doesn't the worktops and washing machine rise by the same amount ?
Connectors under doors can make fractional difference floor heights pretty much unnoticeable. Lino to carpet, no sweat. If noticable it'd still be gradual not stepped.

[Ryzen]

With the new tiles you will end up with a 20mm step at least.It will look a bodge.Take the old ones up.

[Tilly2]

Do it properly or don't do it.

[alavahalf]

A recipe for disaster .. a nice new trip to stub your toe on which will be in excess of 15mm .. Trying to accommodate the old with the new .. don't do it.
Get yourself an SDS drill and a 50mm chisel bit, get your ear defenders on and take the old tiles out. Better to start with a level floor.

[Arrods]

We used to have two layers of tiles in the kitchen. Both had to be ripped up when we had an underfloor pipe leak. Because of the mess made in ripping up the bottom layer, the floor had to be rescreeded to quite a depth. We also had underfloor heating installed which, with the new tiles, meant that there was an even bigger step between the kitchen tiles and the hall carpet than before.

I was worried about this but needn't have. A carpenter constructed a 6" wide, tapered oak threshold. It looks very neat and works well.

You can buy purpose-made pieces of wood that slip under the carpet but I don't think they would have worked as well.

Also, though it was more expensive, the whole of the kitchen was tiled and so there was no problem in installing the appliances.

[Arrods]

Apologies, just noticed that you have wooden floors. Probably disregard my post!

[The Builder]

Actually.............. with a new kitchen being installed, there is no problem.
Tile the whole floor before installing the kitchen. Then, there are no height issues.
Even if you decide to tile after the kitchen is in, it's simple. All kitchens have adjustable legs. You just have to get the fitter to jack up all the units to a height where appliances fit under the worktops normally.

I don't like to be awkward and go against what the others have said, but, as for the threshold to the living room, I'm with Arrods.
A standard 150mm by 20mm thick hardwood threshold (available off the shelf) is what I've used several times. You just need to shorten the door.

It's purely your choice, Needy. Removing the old tiles is the pukka option, but I just wanted to show that there are alternatives.

[needawin]

Thanks all for the advice. this morning i took the bull by the horns and lifted the tiles. easier than i thought it would be. Thats probably the easy part!
whats the best way to get rid of the ridges please?

[Ryzen]

Grind off the high spots and then use a decent floor levelling compound before re-tiling.

[The Builder]

It's good practice these days, Needy, to lay an isolating mat over the whole floor, then tile over that.

It's called a "de-coupling " mat. It allows both tiles and floor to move independently to avoid cracking.
The mat will also take care of minor lumps and bumps in the floor.

With ridges, just get the worst of it off. Either the laborious way with a hammer and chisel, or a small 4" angle grinder with a stone cutting disc.

[The Builder]

^^^Yes, that's a good alternative.
Floor levelling compound first.
But I would still knock off the big ridges, or you'll be using a load of leveller.

[needawin]

Thanks to all for the advice