Vinyl over Bathroom Floor Tile - Bad Idea?

grumbler

I agree. LVT is 'laminate' too and waterproof.

However, the term 'laminate' is normally used for wooden fibre products and has to be used with clarification if it's some other products.

I must confess, that when replying to the first mi-key's post I didn't see the next one. And at B&Q you have to look hard to find the word 'laminate' in  "Livingandhome Set of 36 Dark Grey Rustic Style Wood Plank PVC Laminate Flooring"

mi-key

tightauldgit said:

grumbler said:

mi-key said:

grumbler said:

mi-key said:

...waterproof laminate flooring...

I don't believe that such thing really exists.

tightauldgit said:

So plan B is just to try to patch up the tiles as best I can and fill any gaps I can see in grout etc and then put cheapish sheet vinyl over it to make it presentable as a DIY job. Now I can hear all the professional tilers/floorers clutching their chests already, but on a scale of 1 to 10 how bad an idea is it?  

I think this is doable - if the tiles are very flat, not convex. Just make the floor as flat as possible.

The flooring is made from just PVC, so is waterproof. Worse case if water got under it you could lift it and reglue with contact adhesive.

Most 'proper' laminate flooring is made from that fibreboard stuff, and any water makes it swell 

Absolutely. If you google for "waterproof laminate flooring", the results won't be 'waterproof' in real life.

The issue that "laminate" is a wooden fibre product, but I think I understood we were talking about a vinyl product. There's a lot of stuff out there with similar names/descriptions obviously. Just as a lot of 'vinyl tiles' are little more than stickers that sit on top of whatever is underneath.

I've put laminate in my downstairs toilet because it doesn't need to be waterproof just able to handle the odd splash. But I don't think I'd do laminate in this bathroom because it's where I shower etc so there actually is likely a need to be 'waterproof' 

The vinyl 'laminate' flooring ( not really a laminate as its solid vinyl ) is about 2-3 mm thick, so actually covers up what is underneath pretty well. They are more like a thick rubber tile than a thin sticker.

I actually had them in my kitchen as a quick fix before I laid the new tiling to replace the old ones, and had them there for a few years and was quite impressed with how good they were. 

mi-key

grumbler said:

I agree. LVT is 'laminate' too and waterproof.

However, the term 'laminate' is normally used for wooden fibre products and has to be used with clarification if it's some other products.

I must confess, that when replying to the first mi-key's post I didn't see the next one. And at B&Q you have to look hard to find the word 'laminate' in  "Livingandhome Set of 36 Dark Grey Rustic Style Wood Plank PVC Laminate Flooring"

Yes, I think they are just calling it laminate as people tend to use that to cover any type of non tile or solid wood flooring now. I don't think it's actually a laminate of anything as its all pvc with no fibreboard

tightauldgit

So it took a while but finally got round to doing this job tonight and I'm reasonably pleased with the end result. Not perfect but a solid 5.5/10. Just got to do the edging bits now with sealant. 

I got some tile adhesive and glued back the tile that had lifted and filled in some of the cracks and breaks in grouting etc - which looked an absolute mess and wasn't really a great job. Bought just about the cheapest patterned vinyl I could find online for about £50 (including £20 Postage!) and laid it myself tonight in about 2 hours or so. 

Given it was a tricky shape - with a toilet, pedestal and a circular shower -  I'm rather pleased with myself managing to get it done without any major disasters. Some of the edges are a bit rough but bang a bit of sealant down and I'm sure it'll cover up the worst of any sins. I've also got some edging strips left over from doing my downstairs floor that might help too. 

Now how long will it last is the next question? At least for now it looks 100 times better than old cracked tile.

Total spend about £75 - maybe 3 or 4 hours of working time - and about 500 hours of thinking about it time.