Updating Linoleum Floors

When you are ready to install tiles, the vinyl will have to be either removed or covered with cement sub-flooring.

I am thinking about putting black-and-white peel-off vinyl squares down to cover the mock marble. Eventually, my plan is to have ceramic tiles installed throughout this area, including the kitchen. However, right now, I don't want the burden of that expense.

Is there a rule of thumb to consider when installing vinyl on top of linoleum? How should I proceed in this do-it-myself exercise?
--M.C.M.

A: I do not recommend you place peel-and-stick anything on top of existing vinyl. When you are ready to install ceramic tiles, the vinyl will have to be either removed or covered with cement sub-flooring. If you have an extra layer of peel-and-stick tiles, it will only make the job harder and costlier.

Q: A portion of my living area is above an unheated garage. The garage ceiling presently has about three inches of insulation, with the paperback facing the living area. This is covered by Sheetrock. Still, the floor of the living area is often cold in these New Hampshire winters. What is the best way of correcting or improving this condition? Your recent article on attic troubles was quite helpful. -- R.A.

A: If the floor above the insulation is covered with carpeting or vinyl, additional insulation can be pumped or blown in to each floor joist cavity. The carpet would be secured and then pulled back at strategic locations where a hole is drilled in the sub-flooring. After the insulation is installed, the drilled holes are filled and the carpet is reattached. Older carpeting may have to be replaced. With vinyl floors the floor covering would have to be replaced or covered.

If the floor covering is wood or tile, then you would have to remove the sheet rock in the garage area. Then you would remove the three-inch insulation and replace it with an insulation as thick as the floor joists, which should be a 9-inch batt in a supporting floor system over a garage. The costs of the new insulation and Sheetrock will probably not be offset by the energy savings, but in your neck of the woods you need to think of what a warm floor would add to your comfort. There are some things money can buy.

(Dwight Barnett is a certified master inspector with the American Society of Home Inspectors. Write to him with home-improvement questions at PO Box 268, Evansville, IN 47702 or send him e-mail at d.barnett@insightbb.com.)