I recently visited a property where I noticed they installed new tiles over the existing old tiles from the 1950s or 60s. You can actually see the old yellow tiles with white grout peeking out in the storage closet of the bathroom. Is this a common practice, or should the old tiles be removed before laying down new ones?
2 Answers
It's not really the norm, but some flippers or DIYers might take the shortcut of tiling over old tile to save time. That older tile is super durable, so if someone is going to tile over it, at least it’s not a flimsy surface. The downside is they likely had to trim the door moldings to make space for the extra height. Plus, the new tile could be hiding cracks or other issues you can't see. Personally, I’d recommend removing everything and starting fresh instead of layering more on top.
It's not typical, but I had a similar experience in my 1960s house where some tiles were put over the originals. I found that taking those old tiles off was a nightmare and ended up damaging the walls since they were wet set. Sometimes it’s just easier to tile over the old stuff rather than risking more damage.