[helpless123]

Hi, just purchased house in Portugal and the kitchen & dining room floor is very drab dinghy marble tiles, can I tile over them using ceramic ones. The floor is concrete so is not really an option to take them up. Cheers

[N0help4u]

I am not sure if you can but if you can two things you need to beware of are
Is there a door that would be opening over it?
I put ceramic tile over linoleum and now it is too high that the door scrapes along the tile.

Another problem is cracks and pits and if the marble is broken or the seams in between the marble isn't smooth with the marble then where ever there are parts that dip the ceramic could likely crack

[helpless123]

Hi, there is a door but it is adjustable. And no there are no cracks or pits. Thanks for trying to help though.

[JazMan]

Hi Helpless,

Hey, where is Portugal are you? I represent one of the best Portuguese porcelain tile manufacturers here in the mid-west USA.

It is possible to install tiles over the old if everything is in good shape. Is it a large area?

On the other hand you can have the marble tiles re-finished.

Jaz

[cochise7969]

Just be a man and hammer out the marble. It's not that hard and it'll be easier when it comes time to put the toilet back on. Don't tell me you were not going to take of the toilet and do it right?

The tiles in the long run won't sit right if you tile over the marble.

[JazMan]

HUH? So in Portugal they put the toilets in the kitchen or dinning rooms? I didn't know that! :D

All of a sudden cochise knows the non existent toilet was not going to be removed. Seriously though, re-setting the toilet is not a reason to not set tiles over the old. It'll work great if the old tiles are bonded well, you got to check each piece. You also need experience in tiling to know when you can and when it's best to start fresh.

Jaz

[helpless123]

JazMan you're right they don't put toilets in kitchen & dining rooms. It is quite a large area probably 10m2 per room. Bashing them out is not an option, they are bedded into concrete floor. Just thought there might be some solution, liquid, resin etc we could put over the old tiles to seal them. Tried putting a little piece down with water proof tile cement, but after leaving it for 3 days we just tapped it with a hammer and it came away with the imprint of the marble in the tile cement. Oh well thanks for all your help, guess its back to the drawing board.

[CyFree]

helpless... how about refinishing the marble instead?

I am assuming it is an old construction, so the marble may be something you want to restore rather than remove or cover. Marble floors are so glamorous and so chic, last longer than ceramic and will never go out of style. You can have it sanded and polished to remove stains and restore it to its original shape, and then re-sealed and buffed.
I had a white marble table top that after 20 years was very dingy and ugly. Thought about replacing it, but the cost was prohibitive and the table itself, which was a designer piece, would lose its value if the marble was not original.
Had it polished, bleached and re-sealed. Looks like new.

[21boat]

Down in the Caribbean we have the same conditions. We use an electric chipping hammer to remove tile. Also we mix standard Portland cement to set the tiles. This handles all the problems with door heights/toilet/cabinets toe kicks

Does this floor actually have grout lines. The old floors in the crib were simply a concrete floor poured and the stone exposed and polished and will resemble marble that's dull. Just checking

Your best resource is to ask the locals how they go about handling this re do. Without a doubt someone there has the knowledge. I listen the locals first and see if there is an improvement I can add or do it there true and tried method