Flooring Tile - Can I put ceramic time directly on top of laminate countertop?

I am remodeling my kitchen and there are laminate countertops with a slightly beveled front skirt of oak. the laminate is in perfect condition, but I want to install ceramic tile...can I do this directly on the laminate? Must I scuff it up first?

Thank you for help and advise!

MAP,

http://www.doityourself.com/ceramic/countertops.htm

Hope this helps!

I was reading this in hopes of getting an answer to a similar question. I have formica glued to the wall behind the counters in the kitchen. I now want to put up a tile backsplash. Can I tile over the formica or do I have to rip it down? The link you gave really doesn't answer (for me) the question of tiling over formica or laminate. It's the "IF NEED BE" part that is disconcerting. Is it "really shouldn't, but if you must"? or is it, "yuh, not the greatest way to do it but it's okay and will work fine" ??? Comments please.

joep,

OK, my answer is to remove it. If the adhesive used for the laminate is not too stuck, a thin coat of joint compound could be laid over any divots. If not, remove the drywall and patch in new drywall or Durock. I know that adhesives may perform well but this is a plastic laminate and adhesion performance may not be up to par.

I'm sure that others may have some input here. Ther have been many articles written about tiling over formica on a horizontal plane but then they highlt recommend laying down Durock first. The provides a better sound substrate and adhesion performance.

Hope this helps!

You can tile over your old laminate counter tops if they are in good shape with no seperating or swollen seams, no rolled drip edges, loose or peeling laminate. In your case, give the oak trim, I'd opt to replace the couter top with plywood and backerboard. Thinset won't want to stick to finished oak and the minor seasonal expansion and contraction will most likely cause your grout to break at the laet, and may cause tile to loosen at the worst. To just pull off the oak trim would expose the particle board substrate and result in swelling over time as moisture gets through your grout. also causing the above problems.

As for the back splash, try to pull up the formica, and you will probably be needing to replace the sheet rock if the adhesive was troweled on as you'll lose just about all of the paper face. If it is thoroughly glued on, and not just beads of construction adhesive, sand it with some 60 grit paper on a belt sander to remove the gloss and tile using a modified thinset, make sure the bag states it will bond to laminate. It's not subjucted to any point loads so as long as it was put up with a troweled on adhesive, you can go right over it.

Doug and Tilebri, many thanks for the comments. The Formica was applied with a troweled adhesive. However, in many spots the adhesive is so dried out that the formica comes off easily and in others it tears the paper. So, I'll just rip it all down and patch where I need to.
Wish me luck.