How To Install Vinyl Self Stick Floor Tile

Accept y'all e'er started a DIY project that you lot idea would be a piece of cake, only to afterwards think to yourself, "Gosh, why didn't someone tell me [fill in the blank] before I started?!" I've been at that place — and today I'one thousand going to tell you lot everything you demand to know earlier using peel and stick vinyl tile.

Is peel and stick floor tile whatsoever good?

Starting time, let'southward respond everyone's burning question about whether peel and stick vinyl floor tiles are worth using.

Personally, I'g happy with the results in our fabricated over laundry room (you lot can check out the whole DIY laundry room makeover right over here).

My pare-and-stick floor tile looks SO MUCH BETTER than the ugly, outdated linoleum we've lived with for almost three years.

And I'm happy to share that the installation is straightforward — measure out and cutting each tile, skin off the newspaper backing, and press it onto the floor.

Just if you've always thought nigh using peel-and-stick floor tile and desire to know some of the key considerations you should weigh earlier deciding whether it'due south the right choice for your project, then read on.

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3 Things You Need to Know When Using Peel And Stick Flooring Tile

Here are three important points (the ones that the dwelling improvement store website won't tell you!) to consider before you commit to using pare-and-stick vinyl floor tile for your next DIY project.

#1: The surface that you're installing the skin and stick vinyl tile over matters.

Yes, it'due south true that peel-and-stick flooring tile can be placed correct over linoleum.

Even so, you'll probably get better results if you install the tile directly over the subfloor or over concrete.

Why is that, you ask?

If you're using peel-and-stick tile every bit a gear up to hide old, outdated linoleum like I was, y'all'll quickly discover once y'all start laying your tiles that the quondam linoleum is uneven, and possibly even has nicks or bubbles in some places.

Only approximate what?

Unless you lot're a professional you won't detect those imperfections until y'all actually start your tiling.

Personally, I think pare-and-stick vinyl tile is a good flooring choice for a mudroom or utility closet that doesn't yet have existing tile, laminate or hardwood — laying this over concrete would really be ideal.

If you lot have linoleum in your space already, know it was installed post-1980, and are feeling aggressive, you lot might consider using a handheld sheet sander (I know that sounds scary, but I promise you lot it'south not!) similar this one to become the old flooring equally smoothen as possible earlier beginning your project. (Our home was congenital in 1985 and the flooring in the laundry room wasn't original.) I wish I had known this sanding trick earlier I started my tiling projection, because I think I would accept gotten an even better cease upshot had I used a sheet sander.

That said, before you lot decide to sand —and no matter when your floors were installed and what cloth they are — delight consult a professional to determine whether sanding your flooring is safe for your particular home.

Yous should proceed with circumspection, especially if your home was built before the 1980s and there's a chance that your flooring could have asbestos in it.

Asbestos is an incredibly harmful textile that was used in building materials — including flooring tiles — earlier 1980, but was later banned because of the associated health risks.

If you don't know what your flooring is fabricated of, or if you already know your flooring contains asbestos, Do Not SAND THE Floor.

Instead, consult with a professional first — you two should and so jointly determine the safest next steps for updating your flooring.

#2: The size and shape of your room matters.

What type of infinite are you planning to utilise the tiles in?

A pocket-sized, foursquare utility closet or mudroom? Your foyer? A bathroom?

Peel-and-stick vinyl floor tiles work well in foursquare or rectangular spaces where the only tile cutting required will exist scoring them in straight lines.

These tiles are pretty durable, I must say, just you lot exercise need to handle them with care, and making too many cuts — or making cuts that aren't angular — can cause them to snap in one-half if you're not careful.

Think about the size and shape of the room you lot want to tile and take a look at other elements you might need to work around, such equally already installed cabinets, moldings, coat closets, floor vents or staircases.

#three: Think nearly any items you might need to cut around in that room, such every bit molding or a staircase or the curved base of operations of a toilet.

Making sophisticated cuts to the individual tile pieces — similar the ones that might be required if you have to account for molding or a curved toilet base — aside from simply scoring them in a straight line can get tricky.

This is probably my biggest gripe about using skin-and-stick tile that I wish someone had told me before I started this project.

Vinyl tile is definitely durable merely it obviously doesn't accept the same weight to information technology equally a ceramic tile, laminate or hardwood does, and so making cuts that are done in anything BUT a xc or 180-degree angle is tough.

I definitely ruined several tiles by trying to business relationship for the rounded edges of molding where our door frames meet the floor.

My cuts would end up existence jagged or uneven, or I'd accidentally snap a tile in half while trying to, for instance, cut an L-shaped tile to fit around a corner of my laundry room.

Fifty-fifty after scoring my vinyl tile, I had to very carefully snap a single slice of tile into two.

Take a expect:

Aside from the bones facts well-nigh pare-and-stick vinyl floor tile that you tin can become from whatsoever habitation improvement store website, these are my "I tried it" secrets that I'one thousand sharing that will hopefully assist inform your determination nigh whether peel-and-stick vinyl floor tile is right for you.

A Few More "Prissy to Knows" When Using Peel-and-Stick Vinyl Floor Tile

And considering I dearest you guys so much, I'one thousand going to share a couple more "squeamish to knows" with y'all about using peel-and-stick vinyl floor tile. (Bonus!)

Buy more than tile than you think yous'll need. Equally with most flooring projects, you should buy a few more tiles than you think you'll actually utilize to account for broken tiles, adhesion problems, and and then on. The nice thing about nigh peel-and-stick vinyl tile is that each tile is sold individually, so there's no demand to buy an entire box when you just demand a handful of actress tiles. And if you end up buying as well much you lot can always return the private tiles that you don't end upward using.
Store your tiles at room temperature. Definitely didn't see this one coming. Later purchasing a second batch of tiles mid-way through the project at my local Lowe'southward, I accidentally left them in my trunk overnight. When I remembered the next morning time that I needed to go the tiles out of the car, I had to let them sit down in my basement and warm upward for a few hours earlier I could get to piece of work. I thing I noticed about them even later they had warmed upwards is that the adhesive wasn't as sticky every bit usual after I had peeled off the backing of a few of the tiles that were left out in the common cold, which I attributed to the swing in temperature. So moral of the story: Don't go out these guys in your motorcar.
Wait to hear a crunching audio for a week or so after you've installed your tile. Yep, the guy at Lowe'southward neglected to mention this, and I nearly freaked out when I heard a horrible crunching dissonance every bit I walked through the laundry room on my newly installed tile. (One thing to note is that I did not use any extra adhesive beyond what was already on the dorsum of each tile, so I can't speak to whether the tile still makes a crunching audio after installation if you've used additional adhesive.)Thankfully, the crunching went abroad nigh a week subsequently I finished the project. Apparently there is a period of fourth dimension during which the tile settles, so merely know that this is normal and that it volition go away. Thank goodness, because I would accept been seriously annoyed if I had spent $fourscore and eight hours of my life laying this tile just to realize it would audio like I was walking on empty potato chip bags every fourth dimension I ventured into the basement to fold towels. Phew.

The Lesser Line about Peel and Stick Vinyl Floor Tile

The million-dollar question is: "Is peel-and-stick floor tile a good pick?"

The answer: It depends on your project.

In that location are enough of pros to using peel-and-stick vinyl floor tile: It's affordable, comes in an assortment of colors and patterns that tend to resemble bodily ceramic tile or hardwood, and it can exist installed over many existing surfaces similar linoleum, cut down on the time and mess required for a sabotage stage.

If I had to tackle my laundry room flooring project all over over again, I would however use peel-and-stick vinyl floor — so far, it's proved to exist a good selection for our upkeep and this particular project.