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Can I install new tiles or granite on top of the old tiles on the wall between kitchen cabinet?
To remoe the old wall tiles between kitchen cabinet takes a lot of time or may damage the sheetrock behind it, can I install granite or new tiles on top of it. Appreciate for any input
Hi,
Well, in order to support wall tiles a special board should be nailed to your wall. It provides much better support than regular dry wall, plus it also has many grooves on it which will help greatly in holding the mortar in place, this type of board goes by many names, I know it by the name "hard back", or "cement board". If you install tile over tile, you're losing the ability for the mortar to adhere, plus you're adding twice the weight that the "hard back" was meant to support. What ought to be done, in order to insure your expensive tile job lasts, is to remove the tile, and probably the "hard back" board behind it. If you're able to just remove the hard back without chipping away at the existing tile, then you get two steps out of the way fairly easily......but the thing is, that hard back is usually nailed very well into place, using many nails, this is to prevent it from flexing, because if it flexes much then the tile would come off the wall. Then once you've gotten the old hard back off of the wall, you'd install a new hard back to put your new tile on.
Both Home Depot and Lowes offer tile installation classes for free, plus the people they have in those departments would be able to help you at any time. They'll be able to tell you what all you'll need once you've gotten the old stuff off the wall.
Best of luck!
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Save On Granite of Hanover, Maryland is a leading supplier, fabricator and installer of genuine granite countertops in the mid-Atlantic region. For more information visit www.SaveOnGranite.com.