Putting In Vinyl Floor Tile?
July 13th, 2010 | 
Author: Okay, so we are remodeling on a budget (a TIGHT budget). We want to put vinyl floor tiles in the kitchen. However, we ripped out the carpet, and there was a layer of laminate (the roll-out kind) that the carpet was GLUED to, and then that laminate was GLUED to a layer of TAR PAPER (i have no idea what the previously owners were thinking…)… and that tar paper was glued to the wood floor underneath… we got everything removed, but it still isnt exactly a smooth surface, and we don’t want to put the tiles directly on that because of the unevenness of the surface (we don’t want the tiles getting messed up as we go, you know?)…
what do we need to do to the floor before we lay tile?
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If your on a budget but need a smooth floor 1/4″ luan is the way to go. You don t want cement board for a couple reasons. One is the expense. Two it isn t the right ting to do at all. Hardibacker is what you d use but that is expensive to use also ( more than luan) Roughly 10/11$ a 3×5 sheet ( 15s/f) as apposed to 18$ a sheet for luan( 4×8 sheet and 32 s/f. You don t have to thin set either down , just nail. If you can borrow or rent a special wood stapler to do the luan with , in a few years it will come up fairly easy and you can then do the flooring of your choice GL
You could lay 1/4″ cement board with thinset over the existing floor. If you can’t afford that then use luan and construction adhesive.You will have to prime the luan with at least water-based kilz-it before putting down the vinyl tiles.