A Beginner’s Guide to Laying Vinyl Tile

A Beginner’s Guide to laying vinyl tile

How two newbies at laying vinyl tile did it in one afternoon with just five easy steps!

In all the years I’ve known my husband I always thought there were only three things that frightened him.

#1-Electricity

#2-That all the cacao trees would be destroyed and there would be no chocolate.

And…

#3- Big Foot.LOL!

Now there is FOUR!

Tiling floors!

He was worried. He was concerned. And yes, he was scared.

Truth is, I was a bit concerned myself. After all, neither one of us had ever laid vinyl tile before (ceramic, yes). But vinyl? And peel and stick no less!!!!

I definitely had my doubts about the peel and stick part.

I found them online when I was trying to put together a design scheme for our half bath remodel and TOTALLY  fell in love with this vintage pattern.

They were super cheap (the first reason for concern) and several reviews complained about the pattern not lining up correctly. But there weren’t any bad reviews on the quality so I went ahead and purchased them.

Besides, just like with all the projects in our home, we had done our research.

There is a TON of information online, and it can all be so confusing, which is why I decided to do this post and consolidate all of that information into 5 easy and VERY basic tips.

Of course, like all the projects in our old home, we had just a “FEW” steps to do BEFORE we actually started this project!

You see after we gutted our entire half bath-this is the floor we were left with. It was in pretty bad shape. Not only was there some water damage, but the floor was also severely uneven in two spots.  (That’s a whole other post.)

So here is where we started after we pulled up the floor- reinforced it and laid a 5/8″ plywood subfloor.

Now if you are lucky you could definitely install this vinyl tile over an existing floor-I would just recommend, like this subfloor that you start with a VERY clean and dry surface.

Tools/Material needed:

(This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. These are the products we used and recommend.  See our full disclosure policy here)

Vinyl Tile -We used Floor Pops Peel and Stick

A good quality primer (if you are starting with a plywood subfloor).

Adhesive

Calk Gun (for adhesive)

Measuring Tape

Pencil

Retractable Razor Blade

Rubber Roller

Damp Cloth

Once you have all your supplies and your surface is clean and dry you can get started.

 A Beginner’s Guide to Laying Vinyl Tile!

Step 1-Find the center of the room

Using the pencil and measuring tape locate the center of your room and draw a horizontal and vertical line from one end to the other.

Step 2- Lay down your first tile at the center and work your way out. Matching the pattern (if you have one) as you go.

We did a test run (see above) for this step as like I said,  several of the reviews on the tile we purchased said the pattern was difficult to match up.  Note: we didn’t have any issues.

(Here you can see the primed floor and the ‘real-time’ laying out of the floor tiles.)

Step Three-Apply a thin line of additional adhesive on the subfloor for each tile. (Use this sparingly so as not to cause seepage.)

Step Four-Remove the paper backing from the tile and firmly press the tile into place.

**Note if there is any seepage with the adhesive wipe immediately with a damp cloth.

Step Five-Use a vinyl roller to press out any excess adhesive or air bubbles to ensure good adhesion.

( Sorry folks, no photo of this because I was in charge of this step and totally forget to snap a pic) 🙁 It was pretty simple though. Just run the roller back and forth over each tile, pressing down firmly.

Here we are at the halfway point.  (Sidenote: Michael kept that piece of wood close by so he could periodically check squareness.) That’s totally a ‘Michael’ thing and not required! 🙂

And FINALLY-the floor is in!

One last tip:

I have is to make sure you wipe up any excess adhesive you may have missed before it dries completely.

I missed a spot in the far corner and boy was it a bugger to remove later on. Also, this isn’t really a tip, but I do recommend waiting to wash the floor thoroughly for at least a day or two. This allows the adhesive to set up and dry completely.

Personal Review of Floor Pops Vinyl Tile:

Lastly, we’ve already had a few people ask if it was a wise idea to install such an inexpensive floor in a much-used bathroom, and I’m sure I’ll get a few emails on it as well.

The answer is a resounding YES! (And I’m not getting paid to say that :))

The tile we used was inexpensive but that doesn’t mean it was cheaply made. In fact, we were happily surprised at the quality of the tiles and the fact that they came with sufficient adhesive. The only reason we added additional was that this bathroom does get a lot of use. If you were to install it in a less traffic area you might not have to follow that step at all.

Thus far (it’s been almost a week) we have had no issues and trust me-the two of us and Bentley walk on this floor plenty of times. The last step with the floor will be to finish painting the trim and installing it.

I’ll be sharing one more project in this half bath makeover and then it will be time for the REVEAL! I can’t wait!!!

 

 

What do you think about peel and stick tile? Would you install it in your home?

I hope this Beginner’s Guide to Laying Vinyl Tile helps other tile newbies like us!

If you have any questions on our latest project don’t hesitate to leave a comment or email us!

Have a fabulous weekend!

 

 

 

 

 

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