Before you lay any sort of tile whether it is stone ceramic or peel and stick vinyl you must prepare your concrete floor to ensure that the tiles will go down properly and stay where they re.
Can you install tile over painted concrete floor.
Painted concrete can be made porous with sandblasting or other hard abrasive actions.
You want water to readily absorb into it.
But there is a solution to the problem.
As long as the paint is down well and not flaking you can go over it with some preparation.
Tile cannot be attached directly to painted concrete as the thin set will not adhere well to the paint.
Unfortunately the tile cannot be adhered directly to the painted surface.
If you use a stripper to remove the paint be sure to flush it thoroughly to remove any residuals.
The tile installer is right.
All paint will need to be removed before you begin installing the tile.
Paint used on concrete will not bond with the tile adhesive.
Sheets of cement backing available from most do it yourself.
You need to prepare by removing the paint and scarifying the surface to open up the pores of the concrete.
However you should remember this one instruction no.
No big deal hack or grind the epoxy coated surface to form keys and tile over.
The thinset will probably bond to the epoxy floor.
Ceramic tiles will not adhere to an enamel painted floor because the surface is too smooth.
Sand or scuff it up well and wash to get.
Even though nothing may happen nobody has a crystal ball and the track record of tile over painted floors is not great so he is basing his decision on historical data.
Installing tile over painted concrete adds a few extra steps to your tiling job.