Question about cork flooring in master bath

HooterVol

My wife and I are going to install cork tiles in our master back (glue down). The cork is 4mm thick. My question is will the contact cement adhere well to the existing vinyl floor? Let me explain. I want this floor to be as waterproof as possible (of course). The reason installing a cork floor in a bathroom is a bad idea is most people install the floating type with the fiberboard center. If I pull up the vinyl I will have to put a cement base product onto the existing subfloor prior to the tiles to make it water resistant. My thought was if I sand the vinyl floor with fine sandpaper and clean the floor with acetone this should give me a good surface to adhere the cement to with no dirt buildup on the vinyl. Has anyone out there tried this?

APC Cork

I have heard people of doing this but I do have some concerns with it. By having a solid backing (example cement board) you will have a smooth surface that will not lift. My concern with the vinyl is that if it starts lifting and it is under the cork, the floor will start lifting as well. Also and bumps in the vinyl will eventually show up as bump in the cork. The cork really needs to be glued to a smooth surface. Have you thought about screwing cement board on top of the vinyl? This way you wont have to tear it out. If you do this, double check what the extra thickness will do at the doorways.

Hope this helps.

John

sdsester

Any sort of tile glued to existing vinyl, in a wet area, is going to float around on you eventually. The adhesion just gives way eventually.

rusty baker

It is never, ever a good idea to sand vinyl.

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