LESLIE: Alright. We’ve got Sam in Florida who’s looking to use a laminate flooring in a project. Tell us what you’re working on.
SAM: Our house is tiled and the tiles in some of the rooms – like we’ll have four in a row that pop up or we’ll have four that meet and they’ll tent up. And so we’ve put them back down at times over the years but it still keeps happening and I’m wondering if we could put laminate flooring over the tile.
TOM: Yeah. What kind of tile is it? Is it vinyl tile?
SAM: I would say ceramic tile and – you know, with grout and everything.
TOM: (overlapping voices) Oh, it’s ceramic tile. Oh, I see. OK.
Well, the answer is yes, you can; there’s no reason you can’t. Just keep in mind that, you know, you’re going to add another three-eighths of an inch to the thickness of the floor. So, if you have any issues about the height of that in terms of doorways and archways and thresholds between rooms, you need to adjust for that.
But there’s no reason you can’t do that. A laminate floor is, in fact, a floating floor, which means it’s not attached to the floor underneath; it just lays on top of it. Gravity holds it in place quite nicely, all the tiles lock together and the only trimming you have to do is at the edge of the room.
SAM: So even if some more tiles would tent up in another area, since the floor is floating we would be OK?
TOM: Well, you say, “Tent up.” I mean if they tent up and push up, you’re going to see a lump in the floor. If they just loosen, no problem.
SAM: OK. Alright. Thank you very much.
TOM: You’re very welcome. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
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