Install Self Adhesive Vinyl Tile
Installing self-adhesive vinyl tile is one way to update the look of a room without dealing with messy floor glues. It is important that the floor you are attaching the self-adhesive vinyl tile to is level and free of protruding nails. Although you can lay self-adhesive tile over your current vinyl or linoleum, most often it is necessary to provide a better base for the tile. Installing self-adhesive vinyl tile correctly ensures years of enjoyment from your do it yourself project. Measure your room to ensure that you purchase enough tile and plywood for your project. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
Prepare The Floor
1. Remove all of the bottom trim on the wall where it meets the floor. This trim is known as the shoe mold. Slide a flat pry bar between the trim and the wall to carefully pry the shoe mold away.
2. Inspect the current flooring for excessive damage. Self-adhesive vinyl tile adheres to undamaged linoleum and vinyl. However, if the current flooring is coming up in spots or is uneven it is best to remove the existing floor covering.
3. Cover the subfloor with 1/4-inch plywood. You can also cover over the top of the existing floor covering with the plywood. When covering the floor with the plywood, ensure that you stagger the joints between pieces so that you do not have single joints from one wall to the next. Secure the plywood to the subfloor with 3d nails and a hammer.
4. Spread leveling compound over the seams between the plywood with a trowel or large putty knife. Ensure that all nail heads are flush on the plywood. Allow the leveling compound to dry for 24 hours and sand smooth with 100-grit sandpaper.
5. Lay a piece of the self-adhesive tile on the plywood by the door jamb. Place an undercut saw on top of the tile and cut through the bottom of the door jamb. An undercut saw resembles a concrete trowel with saw teeth. Cutting the door jamb allows the tile to fit under the jamb for a clean appearance.
6. Sweep the entire area thoroughly to remove all debris. Divide the room into four quadrants with a chalk line. Measure the width of the room and find the center along two walls. Ask a helper to hold the chalk line at one wall at the center mark. Take the other end of the chalk line to the opposite wall at the center mark. Hold the line tight, lift the line up slightly with your fingers and let go, snapping a line of chalk on the floor.
7. Measure the width along the remaining two walls and snap a second chalk line. The point where the two lines cross in the center of the room is your starting point. There are now four quadrants to work.
Installing The Tile
8. Peel the backing off one of the self-adhesive tiles and place it in the center corner of one quadrant. Press the tile down firmly so that it adheres completely to the floor. Place tiles along the outer line of the first quadrant in the same manner and then lay tiles inward toward the walls. Repeat the process for the remaining three quadrants, leaving the last course near the walls for last.
9. Position a tile over the top of a tile closest to the wall. Line up the side edges of the loose tile with the edges on the installed tile so that it is on top of the installed tile perfectly. Place another tile on top of the loose tile, lining up the side edges and butting the second loose tile against the wall.
10. Trace the end of the second loose tile on top of the first loose tile. Cut the first loose tile at the line with a sharp utility knife. Peel the backing off the cut tile and place it between the wall and the tile you were working over. Repeat this process for the last course of tiles around the perimeter of the room.
11. Soften the tile with a heat gun to make cuts for heat registers in the floor. This makes the tile a little less difficult to cut through. Place your shoe mold trim over the tile and back against the wall to complete your flooring project.
Tags: loose tile, chalk line, door jamb, self-adhesive vinyl tile, shoe mold
