Hi there, I have a friend who does a bit of DIY and has offered to tile my bathroom. Is it true that you can tile over existing tiles or do the old tiles have to be removed?
Should I just get in a tiler and save the hassle from the misses?
Cheers for advice
Paul

I wouldn't tile over old tiles unless i'd put them there. No way of knowing how well they were fixed, so could end up with the lot coming down.

Best practice is to remove the old tiles, as beanz says, there is no way of knowing what the substrate strength is and how well the tiles are fixed, you could end up with serious injury if the tiles fall off and someone is underneath them. Save the earbashing, get a professional job done and be safe. I'm sure TilersForums will have fixers in your area, register with the site ( it's free ) and post up a description in the ' I'm looking for a tiler ' section, you will get replies and help as needed.

Hope that helps.

EDIT: PS forgot to say

Well said Alan, thankyou

Some sound advice there, someone who 'does a bit of DIY' might cost alot more money in the long term. Use a tiler and take the old ones off and make sure everything is OK to tile on again.

Good luck, let us know how you get on.

I would have to agree with what alan has said, however if you do go down the route of tiling onto tile then consider this!!
1 you have to make sure the substrate behind the original tiles will hold the total weight of old tiles and new tiles and adhesive/grout
2 The existing tiles are fully bonded to the substrate
3 The existing tiles will have to be scrubbed thoughroughly clean to remove old soap residues etc with a proper cleaner! Not soapy water!!!
4 The adhesive/grout you are useing is suitable for tile onto tile(check with addy manufacturer/supplier)
5 The drying time of the adhesive as it is tile on tile the drying time will be extended there for not being able to grout for a while (upto 2 weeks in some circumstances)
6 is there enough room to get more tiles behind the taps etc?
7 are you going to be able to finish off nicely against arcatraves etc? due to extra thickness of new tiles?

I would take of old and renew imo, good luck!!

I agree with the others, tile on tile is a very last resort in my opinion, but welcome to the forums