ceramic flooring installed above multiple layers vinyl???

[Carmen Graves]

Hi BP,

We are installing new ceramic kitchen flooring in an older home (100+ years). It currently has 2 layers of what it seems like adhesive vinyl or linoleum, on top of original pine wood floors. Should these layers of adhesive vinyl be removed before installing the new cement board and ceramic tiles?

Our contractor first said, they would be removed, but later changed his mind and wants to install the new ceramic floor on top of everything, and he said it will be fine, if they do it this way. Is this customary? I am not an expert on flooring, but common sense tells me it should probably be removed. We could use some help from BP on this topic. Thanks in advance.