I’d like to re-tile my bathroom but would rather not pull out the old tiles. Thanks.
Why not, the construction crews do it. Maybe you should put like an inch of cement above the first tile first. That way you can get an ugly step up into the bathroom. But make sure you do it just so the bathroom door doesn’t close right. Then it will be just like my old place.
When I re-did the bathroom in my house in the states i found my floor was many layers thick. The top layer was linoleum, under that was upside down wall panelling, below that was 2 layers of ceramic tile.
I won’t even begin to go through all of the names I was calling the previous homeowners while tearing up this mess. 
Yes, it can be done. The question should be whether or not it is a good idea.
Dad (a general contractor and homebuilder for 50-odd years) says, “Um…well, I suppose you can, as long as the old tile is sound…the thing is to get the right mastic – you know, the adhesive. Make sure it will stick to tile.” It must be said that he’s the type who would rather chip out all the old tile no matter how difficult the job (he is old school), so even going this far to say you can is a pretty powerful endorsement. Maybe you can ask at a DIY shop for the right adhesive??
And for the curious, the Chinese for “mastic” is 胶黏水泥…supremely logical as usual. I love this language!!
If it were my place I’d take them out, but if I rented I would say it was “good enough for somebody else’s house” and slap the new floor right down over the old tile. 
Good answer. If your Dad had spent some time in Taiwan, though, wouldn’t he have said “well, I suppose you can, but it’s just another example of cha bu duo.” It may work to lay the new ones over the old (and if it’s just a rental, I agree with Salvatore that maybe thats good enough), but I believe the proper method would be to tear it out.
You may plan on doing it yourself, but don’t forget how cheap manual labor is here. We hired a crew to tear out our tile bathroom floor, lay in a new, smooth layer of mastic on the floor and install new tiles and it was really cheap. We were very happy with the speed, cost and result. Unfortunately, I don’t have the name of the crew that did it.
If my Dad had ever seen how things are built/repaired/wired in Taiwan, he would be in an institution right now, one with heavily padded walls. I think it would push him over the edge. 
Good point about rental vs. owned, though. And actually a Taiwanese owner would probably be delighted even with someone putting clean new tile over the old tile, even if it wasn’t structurally sound or long-lasting. Just be sure not to tile over that electrical outlet on the shower floor… 
[quote=“ironlady”]Dad (a general contractor and homebuilder for 50-odd years) says, “Um…well, I suppose you can, as long as the old tile is sound…the thing is to get the right mastic – you know, the adhesive. Make sure it will stick to tile.” It must be said that he’s the type who would rather chip out all the old tile no matter how difficult the job (he is old school), so even going this far to say you can is a pretty powerful endorsement. Maybe you can ask at a DIY shop for the right adhesive??
And for the curious, the Chinese for “mastic” is 胶黏水泥…supremely logical as usual. I love this language!![/quote]
Thanks everybody but being both poor “and” lazy I like this answer best. The tile is solid as heck too, juts grimy and yicky and the wrong color IMHO.
Not a good idea unless you roughen the tiles up so the next layer has a ferm grip on the one below …
the semi educated, knuckle dragging peasants that MFI subcontracted to do my kitchen did exactly that ( while I was away, the sods ) they roughed up the orginal tiles with an angle grinder and put the new ones over the old… I know because at the edge where the tiled section meets the painted wall next to the kitchen, they left the now raised an extra tile’s height edge totally unfinished so you can see the double layer of tiles from the side… :grrr: 
bob-have a jack hammer party. Make sure it begins on Sunday A.M., a bottle of Wild Turkey and about two hammers would be right.
Use wonderboard if they got it here.
Follow the tenants of Archimedes, make sure it all goes down hill in the drain. Use a carpentars level and a bit of string.
Don’t use cheap grout. Just gets grotty in 6 months.
:roflmao:
I’ve got a similar problem, but I’m also angrily eyeing the wall tiles, which are twenty years old, cracked, and just not very pretty at all. And if I’m re-tiling, might as well replace the Tang dynasty toilet as well. And there are three bathrooms, so if I’m going to do one, I might as well do all three. And running the numbers on that, it looks like I’ll need a second mortgage on the house, or at least a midnight looting of B & Q.
I’m assuming that tiling over the old wall tiles is a remarkably bad idea…
you’d assume correctly… but that’s exactly what I was referring to in my previous post in this thread, and it’s common practice on planet Taiwan… the OP didn’t mention if he was talking floor tiles or wall tiles, but I was talking wall tiles…
Oh noes. You’re forcing me to think about the renovation I need to do on my bathroom. I have everything else how I want it, just that last (and worst) job to go.
gnash, weep
Oh well, the upside is the jackhammer party I guess. REVENGE!! 
Does anyone have any recent quotes on a bathroom resto job? I pretty much did everything else myself, but the thought of doing tiling and a new ceiling just makes me feel very lazy.
I’m talking about floor tiles and as the door has about a three inch lip so nobody will ever be able to see that I just put new tiles on top of old ones (unless they look at the drain hole I guess).
Anyway the picture is emerging, rough up the old tiles with a grinder, do it on Sunday after drinking with you lot, don’t use cheap grot as it looks grotty…
bout ready I figure…