Laying self adhesive vinyl tiles in kitchen - concrete floor

[tonysab]

Hi - after a bit of advice. We currently have lino down in our kitchen on top of a concrete floor - it's been down for years so we have bought some vinyl self adhesive tiles which I was planning to stick directly to the concrete after pulling the old lino up. The main reason for this is there has been a small crack develop in the concrete which goes across the room and is magnified 1000 times through the lino to look quite noticeable. So I was going to apply some mortar to that and smooth it off etc.
However I've since been reading up about laying self adhesive tiles directly to concrete and having to ensure no dust etc and even then they may lift due to moisture etc. So I'm now thinking well do I actually just stick them on top of the old lino - obviously the problem here is I then can't get to the floor to repair it first. So I'm actually now thinking of slicing through the old lino in a couple of places with a stanley knife to enable me to lift it back and repair any areas needing touching up etc, then lay it back down and lay the new tiles on top. Does that sound reasonable? The other think I have noticed is the old lino - which is not stuck to the floor as far as I can tell - curls slightly at the edges - not up but down, so it's almost like its come in a few mm from the edges due to this - if that makes sense. Not sure what the reason for this is - possibly age and/or moisture.
Thanks for any advice.

 

[crazydaze]

How old is the property?

Is the 'lino' actually linoleum or is it vinyl?

Is it fully stuck accross the whole subfloor or perimeter fixed only?

The correct way to do this - assuming there is no moisture problem - is to lift the 'lino' sweep the floor, primer the floor, use a self leveling screed to smooth the floor, then fit our tiles to this new surface.

There's a brilliant product made by F-Ball called Isolator membrane that you could use which is a lot easier to handle and successfully fit than latex screed but it i more expensive. You could lft the old 'lino' if the adhesive that was used to stick it down is very weak or sparse, you just lay the isolator down and stick your tiles to it. If the old adhesive is problamatic, you could primer on the adhesive and then ay the isolator. In theory you could lay the isolator over the old lino and stick the tiles too it but this is a bit of a bodge.

You cant lay the tiles directly onto the vinyl as the tiles will not bond properly, they will lift, shrink, expand etc - not a great idea.

 

[Guitar_man]

Do you know where you can buy the Fball stuff? I believe they only sell it to contract fitters. It's great stuff though, if pricey.