Whether you've built a new upstairs bathroom or need to lay down new flooring, self-adhesive vinyl tile makes the project fairly simple. Because it comes with an adhesive backing, there's no need to lay down adhesive material prior to laying the floor. While you'll need to cut tile next to the wall, most of the flooring requires you to simply peel off the plastic and press the tile onto the floor. If flooring already exists in the bathroom, you'll need to remove it prior to laying the vinyl tile.
Instructions
1. Remove your current flooring and baseboards. Smooth the floor if necessary. Typically, the ground will be smooth after removing your current flooring, unless you remove preexisting tile. In that case, you'll have to make sure no tiny bits of tile remain. To remove preexisting vinyl tile, heat the tile with a heat gun and then pull up the tile with a putty knife. For ceramic tile, break up the tile with a sledgehammer or standard hammer. To remove carpet, start at the edges with a screwdriver or utility knife and cut the carpet away from the wall, then pull up the carpet.
2. Clean the floor with soap and water. Help the drying process along by placing a fan in the room. Make sure the floor is completely dry.
3. Find the center of each wall and make a chalk line between each. The chalk lines should separate your floor into four squares.
4. Look on the back of the tile to see an arrow. Remove the plastic. Take note of the way the arrow is pointing and lay down the tile on the center chalk line. The arrow on the back of all remaining pieces of tile must face the same way as the first tile piece. Make sure the tile is straight.
5. Remove the plastic backing from the next piece of tile and place it next to first tile. Make sure it is lined up perfectly with the first tile and the arrow is pointing in the same direction as the first tile. Press down to secure the piece in place. Tile the floor a square section at a time.
6. Measure and cut the tile to fit each wall. When a full piece of tile won't fit a wall, press the tile against the wall and draw a line to indicate where you'll need to cut the piece so that it will fit. Home Depot suggests leaving 1/4 of a space between the wall and the tile, to allow for expansion. Cut the tile with a utility knife.
7. Cut out a space in the piece of tile that will fit over the baseboard heater, if applicable. To do so, place the tile over the baseboard heater and draw where the edges of the heater touch the tile. Cut out the pattern with a utility knife.
8. Secure the tiles in place with a rolling pin.
Tags: first tile, tile with, piece tile, utility knife, vinyl tile