If the plywood you are looking at is 1/4" luan it HAS to come out, no way around it. If it is plywood, not OSB, not pressboard and not luan you. may be able to tile over it but the safer method would be to put a 1/4" cement board over it.
As far as cleaning the vinyl try scoring/slashing the vinyl into 2' squares with a utility knife and a handful of good blades. Get down as deep as you can, all the way through is the goal. Then get a wallpaper scraper with a 4" blade and scrape up the vinyl and the paper backing. If some of the glue stays behind thats ok as long as it doesn't interfere with setting the tile flat. Thats another reason to go with the cement board, it will minimize some of the uneveness due to having the thinset under the board before it is installed.
Tiling over plywood can be done as long as certain conditions are met, most of which are more easily addressed when it is new construction.
You should also be aware that the subfloor needs to be stable enough to support ceramic tile. Yinyl and wood have more flex and can handle the bounce in a floor whereas tile will come loose or crack. Can you tell us what the size of your floor joists are (eg - 2x10), their spacing (eg - 16" on center) and the length of the unsupported span (eg - usually from a foundation wall to a lolly column supported cross joist or the opposite wall) and how much and what kinds of plywood are on the floor now? |
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