Laying ceramic floor tiles over old vinyl tiles?

[sagalout1954]

Advice all over the internet is conflicting.

16 year old house with vinyl floor tiles on concrete floor. Wondering if putting in the extra effort to lift the vinyl tiles first before laying the ceramics is worth it? They are quite 'soundly stuck' but would like to get the best/safest end result, avoiding the risk of cracking tiles or grout in the future.

Have lifted a few where new units will be to test the effort required (kitchen & utility a fair sized area altogether). Was a right pain chipping away & taking ages, but read the 'hairdryer' tip (got a heat gun as well but don't want to accidentally strip paint off the woodwork or barbeque my hand).

Strips off reasonably well now but can't decide whether to carry on. Will the glue residue left behind be worse to tile over than just tiling over the vinyl?

Any opinions welcome, just want best job but products/techniques change over the time and not sure which is the best choice now.

Thanks

 

[tpt]

if they are solid, then buy some single part flexi adhesive (e.g. granfix fastset flexible) and some acylic bonding agent. Mix some handfuls of dry adhesive with undiluted acrylic into a slurry and paint it all over the vynil, let it set, then follow on with the same adhesive - tile as normal (notched trowel etc)