Can You Tile Over Tiles? How to Check Yours First

Tiling over old tiles skips the noisy, dusty job of taking them up. But the new tiles stick to the old ones, so the old ones must be stuck fast.

Below, you can check your own tiles in four quick questions. Then see how much height a new layer adds, and what the rules say about showers. We also compare the costs, and other ways to cover old floor tiles.

Check your tiles: can you tile over them?

This checker covers the four things that decide it: hollow tiles, cracks, wet areas and height.

Not sure how to tap test your tiles? It's explained below, step by step.

When tiling over tiles works, and when it doesn't

Tiling over tiles works on a sound base, and fails on a bad one. Here's how to tell which you have.

A few bad tiles can be fixed. But if lots of them fail, lift them all. Our guide on how to remove tiles shows how.

How to do the tap test

The tap test finds tiles that have come loose from the floor or wall behind them. You only need a coin.

1. Tap every tile. Use a coin or the handle of a screwdriver.
2. Listen. A solid tile gives a dull, firm knock. A hollow tile sounds higher and echoey.
3. Mark the hollow ones. Put a strip of painter's tape on each one as you go.
4. Count them. One or two can be fixed. Lots mean the old tiles are letting go, so lift them.

Tilers call hollow tiles drummy. The adhesive under them has let go, so the tile can move. Anything stuck on top moves with it.

Check the tiles are flat

Lay a long, straight piece of timber or a level across the tiles. Try it in a few directions, and look for gaps under it.

Queensland's building regulator, the QBCC, sets limits for new tiling. Under a 2 m straightedge, it must be flat to within 4 mm. And one tile edge mustn't sit more than 2 mm above the next.

Hold your old tiles to the same test. Fix any dips and raised edges before the new tiles go on. The numbers come from the QBCC's standards and tolerances guide.

Look for damp and cracks

Check for damp patches, white salty marks or a musty smell. They mean water is getting in, and that needs fixing first.

Look for a crack that runs along a line of tiles, or keeps coming back. That can mean the floor below is moving, and no new layer will hide it for long.

How much height does tiling over tiles add?

A new layer adds the new tile, plus the adhesive under it. Together, a floor tile and its adhesive are typically about 10 to 12 mm thick.

Tiles vary, so measure one of your new tiles. Then allow for the adhesive under it.

Before you start, check everything the extra height touches:

• Doors. A door that catches can be trimmed. It's $75 a door in our instant quote.
• Appliances. A dishwasher or fridge under a bench can't be trimmed. Measure the space first.
• The next room. A step forms at the doorway. A trim finishes the edge.
• Steps. Tiling a landing makes the step up to it taller.
• Bathrooms. The toilet, vanity, shower screen and floor waste all sit on the old floor.

Walls have the same problem at power points, switches, taps and window sills. Each one sits on the old surface.

Need less height? A floating hybrid floor adds 6.5 or 9.5 mm. Our glue-down vinyl planks add about 3.5 mm. See other ways to cover old floor tiles.

Can you tile over tiles in a shower?

Not as a DIY job. In a shower, the tiles don't keep water out of the walls and floor. The wet-area membrane under them does that.

The building code says where a shower must not let water through:

• The shower floor, including any hob or step-down. A hob is the raised lip at the edge of the shower.
• The shower walls, to at least 1800 mm above the floor.
• The joins, where the walls meet each other and the floor, and around pipes.

Two more rules matter when you add a layer. A floor with a floor waste, the drain in the floor, must slope down to it. The slope must be between 12.5 and 20 mm for every metre.

And a step-down shower must sit at least 25 mm below the floor outside it. Tile over one floor but not the other, and that step changes.

These rules are in the 2022 building code, Part 10.2 of its Housing Provisions. Queensland keeps this edition until 1 May 2027.

What you can't see from the surface

The membrane is under the old tiles, so you can't check it by looking. If your shower leaks now, new tiles on top won't fix it.

Some membranes are made to go over firmly fixed old tiles, with the maker's own primer. Not every membrane is. A licensed tradie picks the system and follows its instructions.

So does a sound old membrane need a new one? Only a tradie who checks it can tell you. The floor waste, the slope and the hob still have to work at the new height.

Lifting shower tiles puts the membrane at risk, too. So if you lift them, price a new membrane as well.

Who can do the work in Queensland?

In Queensland, building work worth more than $3,300 needs a QBCC licence. The wall and floor tiling licence covers the membrane for tiling work.

For membrane work over $3,300, a licensed contractor must do it and issue a certificate. Ask for it, and keep it with your home's papers.

Other states have their own rules. Ask any tradie for their licence number, and check it with your state's building regulator.

Tiling over floors, walls and splashbacks

Where the tiles are changes what to watch for. Here's each place at a glance.

Splashbacks and kitchen walls

A kitchen isn't a wet area under the building code. That's one reason splashbacks are often the simplest place to tile over.

Power points and switches have to come off and go back on over the new tiles. In Queensland, that's electrical work, so it needs a licensed electrician.

Where the new tiles stop, their edge shows. A tile trim, a thin metal or plastic strip, finishes it neatly. Our splashback tiles are a good place to start.

Bathroom and laundry walls

Outside the shower, walls tile over much like a splashback. Wall taps may need a licensed plumber to bring them forward.

Two layers of tiles weigh more than one. Ask your tiler if the wall can carry both.

In a home built before 1990, the wall sheet behind old tiles may hold asbestos. Queensland's asbestos site says it was often used in kitchens, bathrooms and laundries.

Tiling over leaves that sheet alone. Taking tiles off it still needs safety steps, so get it tested first.

Floors

Floors take the most wear, and height matters most there. Our tiles for floors are porcelain, and they suit walls too.

P3 is a slip rating that suits a home floor. Large tiles, like Brescia Iconic, also need a flat floor. For a dry room, also compare a floating floor. See other ways to cover old floor tiles.

How to prepare old tiles for tiling over

Good prep is most of the job. Old tiles have a smooth glaze, so the new adhesive needs help to grip.

1. Fix the problem tiles. Lift any hollow, loose or cracked tiles. Stick them back down, or fill the gaps with patching mortar.
2. Clean and degrease. Scrub the tiles with a degreaser, such as sugar soap. Rinse with clean water, then let them dry.
3. Roughen sealed or polished tiles. Sand or grind a sealed, polished or coated surface, so the adhesive can grip.
4. Prime them. Roll on a primer made for tiling over glazed tiles.
5. Use a flexible tile adhesive. Choose a flexible, cement-based adhesive whose label says it suits tiling over tiles.
6. Keep the movement joints. Leave a joint at the edges, and over any joint in the old tiles. Fill it with a flexible sealant, not grout.
7. Grout once the adhesive has set. That's often about a day. Check the adhesive's label.

Queensland's standards guide counts tiled floors as faulty without those joints. It lists them at the edges, and over joints in the floor below.

New to grouting? Our guide on how to grout tiles walks you through it. Our tile calculator works out the boxes, adhesive and grout.

Tiling over tiles vs lifting them: what it costs

Tiling over saves the cost of taking the old tiles off. It can also save levelling the floor underneath.

Here are typical tiler rates across Australia, for labour only:

So lifting first adds about $35 a m² at typical rates, plus levelling where needed. In a shower, add a new membrane too.

One 12 m² floor, priced four ways

Here's a 12 m² floor in a dry room, covered four ways. Tiles and floors are at our prices on 11 November 2026.

None of these include adhesive, primer, grout, glue or trims. Lifting may also need levelling, about $360 more here.

Vinyl planks need the grout lines filled first. Our instant quote prices levelling at $40 a m², where needed.

Floating our hybrid over the tiles also skips taking them up. Our instant quote charges $60 a m² to take up tiles and grind the floor. On this floor, that's $720.

Want your own numbers? Our instant quote prices laying our floors. For tiling, see tiling cost per m² and the cost to tile a bathroom.

Other ways to cover old floor tiles

You don't have to tile over old floor tiles to cover them. In a dry room, a new floor can go straight over sound, flat tiles.

A hybrid floor, floated over the tiles

Hybrid is a floating floor. The planks click together and rest on the tiles, with no glue or grout. Its underlay is attached, so nothing else goes under it.

• The tiles must be solid. Fix any hollow or loose ones first.
• Fill any grout lines wider or deeper than 3 mm.
• The floor must be flat within 2 mm under a 1 metre straightedge.
• It adds 6.5 or 9.5 mm, the thickness of our planks.

A handy person can lay a room in a day. Or we can lay it, at $35 a m² in our instant quote. Read hybrid flooring over tiles, then see our hybrid flooring.

Glue-down vinyl planks

Vinyl planks add the least height. With the glue, our 2.5mm planks raise the floor about 3.5 mm. Our 4.5mm planks raise it about 5.5 mm.

Vinyl is thin, so it shows what's under it. Fill the grout lines first, or they'll show through in time. Laying our vinyl is $30 a m² in our instant quote.

Every step is in our guide to vinyl flooring over tiles. Then see our vinyl flooring, or compare vinyl flooring thickness.

What about bathrooms, laundries and toilets?

Planks suit dry rooms, like living areas, hallways and kitchens. Bathroom, laundry and toilet floors are different.

The code's standard rules for those floors list tiles, sheet vinyl with sealed joins, or treated concrete. Queensland's building regulator says vinyl planks and hybrid don't meet those rules.

So keep tiles there, or ask a building certifier before you lay planks. Our guide to hybrid flooring vs tiles compares the two.

Tiling over tiles: common questions